April 2, 2021 - Spanish Dust

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   Dust over Spain
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   Saharan dust swept across Portugal and Spain in late March 2021,
   tinting skies orange and creating widespread haze. The Moderate
   Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua
   satellite acquired a true-color image of the waning dust storm on March
   31. On that day, haze hung over most of the Iberian Peninsula with a
   river-like plume of dust flowing northward across central Spain and
   spreading over the Bay of Biscay. The dust appeared to entrain with
   cloud over the North Atlantic Ocean. Dust also spread across France and
   was reported in the United Kingdom.

   A system off the coast of Morocco began pushing dust from the Sahara
   Desert on March 26. Spain and Portugal were heavily covered on March 27
   and March 28-30. By March 31 the sand and dust were sweeping north,
   leaving only a relatively small amount hanging over the Iberian
   Peninsula.

   Each year more than 180 million tons of dust blow from the Sahara
   Desert of North Africa, lofted and transported by strong seasonal
   winds. Huge plumes travel westward across the tropical Atlantic Ocean
   towards South America each year, causing haze and carrying nutrients
   that fertilize the ocean and rainforests. While the cross-Atlantic
   route may be particularly dramatic, Saharan Dust often pours northward
   to cover Europe.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 3/31/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (2.3 MB),  500m (6.2 MB),  250m (4 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-04-02
 
