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Explanation: From low Earth orbit, NASA's SeaWIFS instrument records ocean color, tracking changes in our water world's climate and biosphere. But even an ocean planet can have dust storms. On February 26th, SeaWIFS returned this dramatic close-up view of a vast, developing cloud of Saharan desert dust blowing from northwest Africa (lower right) a thousand miles or more out over the Atlantic Ocean. While there are indications that the planet-spanning effects of the Saharan dust events include the decline of the ecologies of coral reefs in the Caribbean and an increased frequency of Atlantic hurricanes, there is also evidence that the dust provides nutrients to the Amazonian rain forests. From space-based vantage points, other satellite images have also revealed storms which transport massive quantities of fine sand and dust across Earth's oceans.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Earth - dust - storm - ocean - seawifs - dust storm
Publications with words: Earth - dust - storm - ocean - seawifs - dust storm
See also:
- APOD: 2025 September 7 B All the Water on Planet Earth
- APOD: 2025 August 27 B WISPIT 2b: Exoplanet Carves Gap in Birth Disk
- APOD: 2025 August 10 B Zodiacal Road
- APOD: 2025 June 15 B Two Worlds One Sun
- Young Stars, Dark Nebulae
- APOD: 2024 December 29 B Methane Bubbles Frozen in Lake Baikal
- Interplanetary Earth