This true-color image shows clearly that dust is being generated around the periphery of the Taklimakan Desert basin, situated in northwest China. The sources of the dust in this scene appear to be located at the base of the mountains to the north and northeast of the desert basin, so in this case the dust is not originating in the dune fields in the interior of the basin.
This image was acquired on April 7, 2004, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite. The high-resolution image provided above is at 500 meters per pixel. There are copies of this same scene available at additional resolutions.
Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
