Dust Storm over East Asia

March often brings an increase in dust storms to East Asia, and 2008 proved no exception. In early March 2008, the characteristic “yellow dust” from the Gobi Desert blew eastward over the Beijing region, the Yellow Sea, and North and South Korea.

Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Dust and Haze

Gobi Dust Over Northeast China and Korea

Dust blowing off the Gobi desert eastward across the China toward the Pacific Ocean is a common event in April. Space Shuttle astronauts have photographed these dusts storms several times. These photographs, taken by astronauts on April 25, 1990, show a thick blanket of dust that entirely obscures the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. The dust is being transported from west (left) to east (right). The mountainous spine of the peninsula induces gravity waves in the dust cloud on the downwind (east) side.

Image of the Day Atmosphere

Dust Storm in Northern Africa

Dust remained in the air another day, two days after a major dust storm struck northern Africa on February 23, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying onboard the Terra satellite captured this image on February 25. By the time this image was acquired, the dust had moved toward the northeast over the Mediterranean Sea.

Atmosphere Land Dust and Haze

Dust Cloud over Sea of Japan

Dust and Haze