The massive Saharan dust storm, originating on Jan. 22, continued spreading north and eastward across Egypt on Jan. 23, 2004. In this true-color scene, the dust (tan pixels) can be seen blowing over the Sinai Peninsula and blanketing parts of Israel, Syria, western Iraq, and almost all of Jordan. To the south, the Red Sea is almost completely obscured as the dust also crosses over into Saudi Arabia. The bright white patches are clouds.
This image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiomater (MODIS), flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. Notice the vertical discontinuity running vertically down through the image just right of center. This shows where two images from consecutive satellite overpasses were stitched together to make one image. The high-resolution version available above is 500 meters per pixel, but the scene is also available at MODIS’ fullest resolution of 250 meters.
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Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
