Nasa astronaut shares image of huge Saharan dust plume over Atlantic Ocean

Satellite data showed that the dust had spread over 2,000 miles
The image was taken by a NASA astronaut on board the International Space Station
@Astro_Doug
Imogen Braddick22 June 2020

A Nasa astronaut has shared an image of a huge Saharan dust plume in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Colonel Doug Hurley, who is currently on board the International Space Station, shared the photo on Twitter.

"We flew over this Saharan dust plume today in the west central Atlantic," he wrote. "Amazing how large an area it covers!"

The dust plume started streaming across the Atlantic Ocean towards the United States from the Sahara Desert on June 13, Nasa said on its website.

On June 18, a satellite captured an image of the large light brown plume of Saharan dust over the ocean.

The image showed that the dust from Africa’s west coast extended almost to the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean Sea.

Satellite data showed that the dust had spread over 2,000 miles.

Colin Seftor, Nasa atmospheric scientist, has created an animation of the dust.

He said: "The animation runs from June 13 to 18 and shows a massive Saharan dust cloud that formed from strong atmospheric updrafts that was then picked up by the prevailing westward winds and is now being blown across the Atlantic and, eventually over North and South America,"

Forecasters expect the plume of dust to arrive in the south east of the US from Wednesday.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of dust are picked up from the deserts of Africa and blown across the Atlantic Ocean each year.

CNN Meteorologist Haley Brink said: "Large plumes of Saharan dust routinely track into the Atlantic Ocean from late spring into early fall.

"Every so often, when the dust plume is large enough and trade winds set up just right, the dust can travel thousands of miles across the Atlantic and into the US."

The dust helps build beaches in the Caribbean and fertilises soils in the Amazon, Nasa said.

It can also affect air quality in North and South America.

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