A huge river of sand and dust from the Sahara Desert travelled over northern Algeria and across the Mediterranean Sea on January 23, 2020. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the sandy scene on that same day.

As the sand spread across the Mediterranean to cover parts of France and Spain, a strong and devastating storm was pummeling Spain. According to media reports, Storm Gloria battered the eastern and western coastline of Spain, bringing torrential rains and heavy snow leaving over 10,000 homes without power and 13 dead. This storm created strong winds over a very large region, and it is likely that the storm circulation played a role in lofting the sand from Algeria and entraining it to move hundreds of miles from Africa to Europe.

Image Facts

Satellite: Aqua

Date Acquired: 1/23/2020

Resolutions: , ,

Bands Used: 1,4,3

Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC