Dust over Iraq

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Dust plumes hovered over Iraq, dipping into northeastern Saudi Arabia, on April 17, 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. The plumes extended mostly north-south over southeastern Iraq.

Fine sediments fill the Tigris and Euphrates Basin, providing ample material for dust storms. Besides those river sediments, dust storms in the region can draw from vast sand seas on the Arabian Peninsula.

Besides the dust storm, this image also shows a fire in Kuwait, discernible by the plume of dark smoke blowing eastward (image lower right). The fire broke out in a dump for used tires.
NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE/EOSDIS MODIS Rapid Response. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument:
Terra - MODIS - NASA