NASA has released an image showing dust and smoke particles in the atmosphere for March 2010. The image to the right shows the concentration of these particles. Much of this concentration was due to dust storms, such as in Africa and Asia, as well as fires in Southeast Asia.
This image was made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite throughout March 2010. Areas where the sensor couldn’t collect aerosol measurements are gray. Since aerosols such as dust, smoke, and haze are often pale, it is difficult to record concentrations over bright surfaces like the deserts of Africa, Arabia, and Asia or the snow-covered landscape of North America, Europe, Asia, and Antarctica. Other gray areas show where clouds consistently blocked the sensor’s view of aerosols.
