Dust plumes blew along the borders between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran in early July 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on July 13, 2009. This true-color image shows pale beige dust blowing toward the south-southeast. The dust appears to blow primarily out of Afghanistan, across westernmost Pakistan and easternmost Iran.
Numerous dry salt lakes and sand seas dot the borders between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, including Dasht-e Margow (a sand sea) and Gowd-e Zerah (a dry salt lake) just inside Afghanistan. These arid localities provide ample material for dust storms, and the dust blowing on July 13 appears similar in color to these features. Part of Iran’s Dasht-e Lut appears in the west.
NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
