Dust Storm in the Taklimakan Desert

On April 23, 2004, a dust storm was whipping up in the Taklimakan Desert of western China. A thick, light tan plume of dust mingles with clouds in the southwest corner of the desert, with separate plumes visible to the north and at other locations along the desert’s perimeter. Spring is the season for dust storms in China, and the particulates can spread across the globe. On the day of this dust event, dust warnings were issued as far away as South Korea.

This image of the event was captured by the

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

(MODIS) on the

Terra

satellite. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at

additional resolutions.

References & Resources

Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC

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April 23, 2004

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