Incredible outer space images of fires and awesome dust blowing across the sea

November 10, 3:13 PMGrand Rapids Weather ExaminerLinda Paige

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Check out the really cool images of fires in India and Australia and dust plumes blowing across the Arabian Sea.  I saved the best for last so make sure you read all the way to the bottom.

Fires continue to rage across Australia as winter turns to summer down under.

The satellite description is from Rebecca Lindsey, NASA Earth Observatory.
 

Multiple large fires were burning in the Buckland Tableland section of the Great Dividing Range Mountains in eastern Queensland on November 3, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fire are outlined in red. These fires are concentrated farther south than previous images in this event.

NASA Nov 3, 2009

A fire at an oil depot in India continues to burn after nearly two weeks.

The satellite description is from Rebecca Lindsey, NASA Earth Observatory.

A fire at an oil depot south of Jiapur, India, that began on October 29, 2009, was still burning on November 2 when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image. At the time of this image, winds were pushing a black plume of smoke southeast toward the Banas River, however, at other times, the smoke blew northward into the city.

NASA Nov 2, 2009

I saved the best image for the end. Dust storms are common in the Middle East, they tend to occur on a regular basis, just line the monsoons of India.

NASA images courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek

The shift from summer heat to winter’s chill in the mountains of southwest Asia leads to regular dust storms over the Arabian Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this photo-like image on November 9, 2009. It is remarkably similar to images captured in late October and November in 2008, 2007, 2006, and previous years. In 2009, as in other years, distinct plumes of dust blow from the desert between the Makran Mountains and the Arabian Sea.
Wind and weather patterns in southwestern Pakistan and southeastern Iran are largely driven by the summer and winter monsoons. In the winter, the cloudless, dry air over southwest Asia cools. The cool, dense air sinks. Air over the Arabian Sea, meanwhile, is warm. The warm air rises, and the cool air from the continent rushes in to take its place. The movement of air from the land to the Arabian Sea creates strong winds that generate the dust storms seen every year.

 

NASA Nov 9, 2009

I think I’ll take a snowstorm over a dust storm any day.

For more info: Snowstorm from outer space