Dust blew off the coast of Libya in late April 2011. On April 24, a relatively small plume arose near the city of Banghazi (Benghazi) and blew over the ocean toward the west. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day.
Inland over eastern Libya, skies are clear. Sand seas cover much of that region, however, and the dust plume likely arose from sands near the coast. A little over 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Banghazi, the plume begins to mingle with clouds. Northwest of Tripoli (Tarabulus), a faint haze appears along with sporadic cloud cover. The haze could result from dust that became airborne hours or days earlier.
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NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.
