Suggested Searches

 

1 min read

Dust Storm in Iraq

NASA Earth Observatory

Aug 10, 2005
Article
Instruments:
Topics:
2005-08-09 00:00:00
August 9, 2005

The dust storm that plagued Iraq on August 8, 2005, and delayed constitution talks lingered over the region the next day. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Aqua satellite took this picture on August 9, 2005. In this image, a pale beige cloud of dust several hundred kilometers across sweeps out of Iraq and over the Persian Gulf in the southeast.

This dust storm was caused by a phenomenon known as a shamal (also called a shumal, or shimal). A shamal is a northwest wind that can last several days. Shamals cause some of the most destructive dust storms in the Middle East.

References & Resources

NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response team.

Downloads

2005-08-09 00:00:00

August 9, 2005

JPEG (1.15 MB)

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Dust Engulfs Coastal Peru
3 min read

Skies turned orange across the city of Ica as winds, locally known as Paracas winds, lofted dust from the coastal…

Article
Dust in the “Eye” of the Tarim Basin
3 min read

Satellites have observed episodes of dust swirling across the basin in western China for decades.

Article
Whirling Dust and Ancient Floods
4 min read

Now a flat and dusty desert playa, Oregon’s Alvord Desert once held an expansive lake that was the source of…

Article
Keep Exploring

Discover More from NASA Earth Science

Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters

Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.

Earth Observatory Image of the Day

NASA's Earth Observatory brings you the Earth, every day, with in-depth stories and stunning imagery.

Explore Earth Science

Earth Science Data