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April 19, 2001 — The dust plume from Asia that hung over the West, particularly Colorado, moved on yesterday to the East Coast. "The cloud stretches from Hudson Bay to Northern Florida, but should be moving off the coast now," said Russ Schnell with NOAA's Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. Schnell said the cloud was observed yesterday over New Hampshire and Maryland with laser radars or "lidar". There are also reports of a remnant of the dust storm over Alaska. (Click NOAA satellite image of China dust storm for larger view.)

Now a second dust storm has developed and is leaving the coast of China. Scientists are watching closely to see what direction it will take. Government and university researchers are already in place in Asia participating in the ACE-ASIA project, a joint scientific experiment to observe aerosol particles and their effect on the Earth's climate. NOAA's research vessel, the Ronald H. Brown, is presently off the coast of Japan, participating in this experiment.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory

ACE-Asia — Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiments

NOAA, NSF and Partners Study Asian Air Particles

See NOAA satellite images at the following links.

Large view

Smaller view with text explanation

SeaWiFS (short for Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) is a NASA satellite, with the Navy, NOAA and others, using the data.

NOAA Satellite Dust Imagery

Media Contacts:
Barbara McGehan, NOAA Research,Boulder, Colo., at (303) 497-6288 or Jana Goldman, NOAA Research, (301) 713-2483 ext. 181