|
Satellite Images of African Dust
SeaWiFS ImageryThe two satellite images at right, acquired by NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center's SeaWiFS Project and ORBIMAGE in February 2000, show one of the largest Saharan dust storms ever observed by SeaWiFS. The dust contains phytoliths (opaline silica spicules from grasses) and freshwater diatoms which have been recovered in sediment cores across the central Atlantic. Essential nutrients are provided by the dust to the Amazon rain forest in South America, and support a bromeliad ecosystem in the forest canopy high above the ground. NOAA ImageryThe NOAA satellite images below were taken in May and June 1999, and show African dust departing west Africa and arriving over the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Hundreds of millions of tons of African dust are deposited annually in this region. In June and July these dust clouds move farther north, where they impact the Bahamas, the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern United States.
|