A cloud of dust extends hundreds of kilometers over the Arabian Sea in this true-color image from November 11, 2009. Dust had been blowing out of western Pakistan in previous days, and some of that dust may have contributed to the cloud seen here. However, on November 11, the dust seems to be sweeping out of eastern Pakistan near the green Indus River plain. Tropical Storm Phyan may have influenced the winds that caused the dust storm. Like all Northern Hemisphere cyclones, the storm spun counterclockwise, so the winds on the north side of the storm would have been blowing west. The dust seems to circle the storm. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image.
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NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek, NASA’s Earth Observatory.
