January 6, 2020 - Dust Storms in Niger and Chad

In early January, 2020, fierce winds over the Sahara Desert created a broad dust storm that, in some locations, completely shrouded the land beneath airborne sand and dust. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the storm over Niger (west) and Chad (east) on January 2.

Numerous plumes of sand and dust blow across the entire scene, likely blowing from northeast to southwest on strong, steady winds. The dust is carried around Niger’s Aïr Mountains and the Tibesti Mountains in Chad, making brush-stroke like tan lines across the lower-lying terrain. Northeast of green Lake Chad a broad area of beige obscures the Bodele Depression, which lies underneath. Dust storms are commonly arise in the low-lying Bodele Depression, which is a major source of windblown dust in Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 1/2/2020
Resolutions: 1km (1.1 MB), 500m (3.3 MB), 250m (2 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC