The air over central Africa was bright with blowing dust (top) and what is probably a mixture of dust and smoke (left center) when this image of the area around Lake Chad (large green area above image center) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite was captured on November 28, 2004. In addition to the dust storm in the Bodele Depression north of Lake Chad, numerous fires (locations marked in red) burning in the Sahel and savannas of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central Africa Republic were contributing to the atmospheric haze.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes DAAC.
