A dust storm formed over Inner Mongolia in northeastern China in early April 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image on April 8. Just east of Uliastai (Dong Ujimqin Qi), plumes blew toward to the southeast, and the dust storm picked up more material closer to the coast of northeastern China.
Sandy desert covers large stretches of Inner Mongolia, providing plentiful material for dust storms. Some of the dust may have arisen from dried wetland sediments near the China-Mongolia border.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Michon Scott.
