• White Sands dust storm

    Dust from the White Sands dune field in New Mexico rises thousands of feet from the valley floor and drifts over the snowy peaks of the Sacramento Mountains driven by southwesterly winter winds. White Sands National Monument lies in the 50 kilometer (31 mile) wide

  • Dust seen over Russia

    In late April 2012, dust mingled with clouds over the eastern Russian Federation. The dust likely originated along the border between China and Mongolia and followed a counter-clockwise arc into eastern Russia. Fires along the China-Mongolia border may also have

  • Agricultural fires in Indochina seen from satellite

    Late winter or early spring is the time scheduled for farmers in Southeast Asia for preparing land for seasonal agriculture, usually for planting crops. On February 14, 2012, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite

  • Haze over northern India

    The haze which has been blanketing northern India for several weeks continues to plague the region in mid-December, 2011. The thick aerosol soup not only hugs the southern face of the Himalaya, but also pours southward over both coasts, stretching across the Bay of

  • Continuing haze over Himalayas

    Haze continues over Himalayas. At this time of year, cold air often slides down the Himalaya, coming to rest over northern India. As the cold air settles into place, it may be trapped under a layer of warmer air. Usually, air is warmer near the Earth’s surface, and