Winds blowing down from the Makran Coast Range in Western Pakistan (right) and Eastern Iran (left) are carrying dust over the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Such wind patterns commonly blow dust from the coastal valleys into the water. This storm was recorded by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on March 23, 2004. The horizontal stripes evident over the water mark the beginning and the end of the rotation of MODIS’ double-sided scan mirror. The lines are caused by minute differences in the two sides of the scan mirror.
The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum resolution. The image is available in additional resolutions.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
