February 8, 2021 - Dust in Algeria and Morocco

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   Dust in Algeria and Morrocco
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   A massive dust storm rose from eastern Morocco and western Algeria in
   early February 2021.

   The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
   NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of a small part of
   the dust storm on February 5—the day that strong winds first lofted a
   giant cloud of dust from the Hautes Plaines (high plains region). This
   image captures the huge cloud as it lifts from the arid sandy region,
   creating an orange-tinted cloud that completely obscured the land from
   view. This cloud measured 150 miles (240 km) from west to east and
   roughly 100 (161 km) miles north to south.

   As the dust blew northward, it began to thin as it appeared to mix with
   cloud, as can be seen near the upper edge of the image. The dust storm
   continued northward to roll over the city of Oran, Algeria, turning the
   skies orange-yellow for hours. On February 5, the entire dust storm
   extended over part of Spain and the Mediterranean Sea-stretching more
   than 700 miles (1,127 km) from the source in the Hautes Plaines. By
   February 6, dust covered most of the southeastern half of France, parts
   of Switzerland and northern Italy, and approached the border of
   Austria. On February 7, satellite imagery showed that the dust had
   entrained with cloud, tinting the cloud tan, and stretched eastward
   over Ukraine and north to cover Poland.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 2/5/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (387.9 KB),  500m (125.2 KB),  250m (362.4
   KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-02-08
 
