Incredible Sahara Dust Plume Sweeping Across The Atlantic Is Largest on Record
Publication year
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UNCCD Library
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Web resource
Dust plumes are a natural phenomenon, 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.
Keen satellite eyes have been watching the plume as it developed and headed out to sea. The ESA's Copernicus Sentinel and Aeolus satellites have tracked the plume's progress. The plume is so big, it's earned the nick-name Godzilla.
The meteorological name for the plume is the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). The SAL forms between late Spring and early Autumn. Strong surface winds pick up the dust and carry it into the air and over the Atlantic Ocean.
If conditions are right, the dust can be transported into the upper troposphere, and carried all the way to the Caribbean or the United States, an 8,000 km (5,000 mile) journey.
Records of the Saharan dust plume go back about 20 years, and this one ranks as one of the biggest. It's common for these dust plume to reach the US, but this one is extraordinarily large. The NOAA says that the plume is about 60 percent to 70 percent larger than average.
The image below is from June 19th, 2020. It's a composite image from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite and the Aeolus Satellite. The base layer is bright yellow aerosol index from 5P and Aeolus aerosol and cloud formation is laid on top. The Aeolus data is unique because it's the first satellite designed to acquire profiles of Earth's winds on a global basis. It helps build much more sophisticated forecasts and models, partly by determining wind heights with greater accuracy. It can determine the height at which the dust layer is travelling, and in this image, Aeolus shows that most of the dust was 3 - 6 km (1.8 - 3.7 miles) above the ground.
The different space agencies now have a fleet of satellites monitoring Earth, and they can closely watch things like this dust plume. Each satellite can have a different mix of instruments, and together they give a more complete understanding of Earth's atmospheric happenings. Read the full article from the link above
They're usually not this big, and they often sink into the ocean. But this one's coming right to America.
Keen satellite eyes have been watching the plume as it developed and headed out to sea. The ESA's Copernicus Sentinel and Aeolus satellites have tracked the plume's progress. The plume is so big, it's earned the nick-name Godzilla.
The meteorological name for the plume is the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). The SAL forms between late Spring and early Autumn. Strong surface winds pick up the dust and carry it into the air and over the Atlantic Ocean.
If conditions are right, the dust can be transported into the upper troposphere, and carried all the way to the Caribbean or the United States, an 8,000 km (5,000 mile) journey.
Records of the Saharan dust plume go back about 20 years, and this one ranks as one of the biggest. It's common for these dust plume to reach the US, but this one is extraordinarily large. The NOAA says that the plume is about 60 percent to 70 percent larger than average.
The image below is from June 19th, 2020. It's a composite image from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite and the Aeolus Satellite. The base layer is bright yellow aerosol index from 5P and Aeolus aerosol and cloud formation is laid on top. The Aeolus data is unique because it's the first satellite designed to acquire profiles of Earth's winds on a global basis. It helps build much more sophisticated forecasts and models, partly by determining wind heights with greater accuracy. It can determine the height at which the dust layer is travelling, and in this image, Aeolus shows that most of the dust was 3 - 6 km (1.8 - 3.7 miles) above the ground.
The different space agencies now have a fleet of satellites monitoring Earth, and they can closely watch things like this dust plume. Each satellite can have a different mix of instruments, and together they give a more complete understanding of Earth's atmospheric happenings. Read the full article from the link above
Keywords
dust storms
sand and dust storms
environmental disasters
Sahara
health impacts
health hazards