dust plume Archives

July 23, 2020July 23, 2020 by Evan Gough

Dust Seen Streaming Out of Namibia Into the Atlantic Ocean

Landsat 8 strikes again.

Landsat 8 is the United States Geological Survey’s most recently launched satellite, and it holds the powerful Operational Land Imager (OLI.) The OLI is a powerful multi-spectral imager with a wide dynamic range.

The OLI does a great job of keeping an eye on Earth, and now its captured images of winds in Namibia picking dust up and carrying it out over the Atlantic Ocean.

July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 by Evan Gough

Watch the Incredible Plume of Dust from Africa Cross the Entire Atlantic Ocean

The Saharan dust plume over the Atlantic Ocean. Image Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2020), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Dust plumes are a natural phenomena, part of Earth’s nutrient cycle. They occur when high-velocity winds pick up tiny dry particles from the Earth’s surface and carry them long distances. Every summer, dust plumes from Africa’s Sahara desert travel across the Atlantic Ocean.

They’re usually not this big, and they often sink into the ocean. But this one’s coming right to America.