Dust storms in Australia

  • Credit

    Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

A massive low-pressure system treated eastern Australia to wild weather on February 2, 2005. The storm brought destructive winds, heavy rain, low temperatures, and even snow to parts of Australia when the southern continent should be at the peak of summer. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image, captured at 2:10 p.m. Queensland time by NASA’s Aqua satellite, shows the effects of strong winds on the Queensland, Northern Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales. Clouds of dust cover the scene, particularly in Queensland where an estimated five million tons of top soil was blown away. In the lower left corner of the image, the storm is pulling two long plumes of silt from the dry salt pan lake bed of Lake Eyre.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Aqua/MODIS

  • Visualization Date

    2005-02-02