images

Dust storm over the Cape Verde islands

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

t-afmau-00010

Date

2009-07-04

Two dust plumes blow toward the southwest, one plume stretching possibly 150 kilometers (95 miles) off the coast, and the other plume forming an arc that reaches all the way to Cape Verde. Although this image shows dust immediately off the coast of West Africa, a layer of dust from storms such as this often travels virtually intact to the other side of the Atlantic. This layer of dry, hot, dusty air is called the Saharan Air Layer. Terra satellite took this natural-color picture on June 22, 2009. Borders have been added.