June 5, 2009
Dust blew in a clockwise direction through Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia in early June 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on June 5, 2009. Hiding much of the Euphrates River, the dust plumes blow toward the southwest from eastern Syria and northwestern Iraq. The dust sweeps into northern Saudi Arabia, forming beige-colored clouds with indistinct margins. The fine sediments of the Tigris and Euphrates floodplains provide ample material for dust storms in the region.
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NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
