Dust storms off West Africa
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Dust storms regularly sweep out over the Atlantic Ocean from the Sahara Desert at this time of year, sometimes blowing all the way to North and South America. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite on May 25, 2003, shows several plumes of dust billowing from the West African coastline. In the coastal waters, colorful blooms of marine organisms color the waters blue and green.