April 24, 2023 - Dust over East Asia

Dust
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On April 21, 2023, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a true-color image of
another pulse of dust from the Gobi Desert pouring over East Asia. Dust
storms rising from the Gobi Desert are common, especially in the
springtime when gusty winds sweep eastward over the desert.

Several severe storms have blanketed China, the Korean Peninsula, and
northern China in March and April this year. One massive storm struck
on March 26, creating a comma-shaped blanket of tan dust that affected
more than 500 million people in China. Another dust storm on April 11
brought widespread air pollution, with PM10 (suspended particulate
matter) in Beijing reported at 1,321 micrograms per cubic meter—a level
almost 30 times the daily guideline set by the World Health
Organization. A review of daily Aqua satellite imagery shows only one
relatively dust-free day across the region during the first three weeks
of April and four clear-sky days in March.

Underneath the widespread cloud of dust, the blue waters of the Sea of
Japan appear to be tinted with green, which is evidence of a
phytoplankton bloom. Phytoplankton are microscopic plant-like organisms
that live in these waters year-round and, when conditions are
favorable, can burst into rapid growth that creates large floating
blooms that can easily be seen from space. The minerals in dust can act
as potent nutrients to help spur phytoplankton growth.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/21/2023
Resolutions: 1km (2 MB), 500m (5.3 MB), 250m (3.9 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-04-24

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