Cool Geo-Video: Mapping Dust from the Sahara to the Amazon

Cool Geo-Pics from NASA's Earth Observatory.



Quick "Cut & Paste":
"....Hundreds of millions of tons of sand and dust particles are lifted from North African deserts each year and carried across the Atlantic Ocean. So much dust is kicked up that the microscopic particles amass into sweeping tan plumes that are visible to satellites......"

"....The data show that wind and weather pick up on average 182 million tons of dust each year and carry it past the western edge of the Sahara. The dust then travels 1,600 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, though some drops to the surface or is flushed from the sky by rain. Near the eastern coast of South America, 132 million tons remain in the air and 27.7 million tons fall to the surface over the Amazon basin....."

References:

1. Barcelona Dust Forecast Center (2105, March 2) Dusty February in the Middle East. Accessed March 2, 2015.
2. NASA (2015, February 24) NASA Satellite Reveals How Much Saharan Dust Feeds Amazon’s Plants. Accessed March 2, 2015.
3. NASA Earth Observatory (2013, August 29) Tracking Dust Across the Atlantic.
4. NASA Earth Observatory (2014, July 5) Saharan Dust on the Move.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Jesse Allen, using Aqua and Terra MODIS data from the Land Atmosphere Near real-time Capability for EOS (LANCE), and the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center for Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership data from the VIIRS instrument. Suomi NPP is the result of a partnership between NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Department of Defense. Caption by Michael Carlowicz and Ellen Gray, with image interpretation from Lorraine Remer, Santiago Gassó, and Ralph Kahn.

Instrument(s): 

Terra - MODIS

Aqua - MODIS

Suomi NPP - VIIRS