Several large, thick plumes of desert dust (brownish pixels) were blowing from Egypt and Libya northward over the Mediterranean Sea, on January 12, 2003. The Greek island of Crete is partially obscured by the dust in the upper lefthand corner of this scene. The island of Cyprus is in the upper righthand of this image, just to the east of the dust plume.
This true-color image was acquired on Jan. 12 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASAs Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image available here is 500 meters per pixel. Visit the MODIS Rapid Response Team, for a copy of this scene at MODIS full resolution of 250 meters per pixel.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC