December 6, 2022 - Dust Shrouds the Taklamakan Desert

Dust
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On December 4, 2022, a massive dust storm obscured almost all of the
Taklimakan Desert from view as a thick layer of pale dust stretched
across not only the desert but the entirety of the Tarim Basin itself.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired a
true-color image of the dust-laden skies over the Taklimakan on that
same day.

The Tarim Basin sits in western China and is enclosed on three sides by
three major mountain ranges, with a narrow opening in the east. Parched
by sitting in the rain shadow (an area devoid of rain) behind the tall
mountains, the Tarim Basin receives nor more than 10 mm (0.4 inches) of
rain per year. The Taklimakan Desert sits within the Tarim Basin and it
is one of the driest and most barren expanses found on Earth. The name
is said to mean “place of no return” in Turkish, due to the extreme
lack of water, high daytime temperatures, the presence of vast fields
of shifting sand dunes, and fierce dust storms that can destroy
property as well as sicken people and livestock. A detailed account of
a ferocious dust storm that destroyed a stagecoach was written on
bamboo strips in China’s Han Dynasty, dating to more than 2,000 years
ago, and still exists today. It is the earliest description of the
effects of the desert’s most frequent natural hazard.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 12/4/2022
Resolutions: 1km (1.3 MB), 500m (3.7 MB), 250m (2.6 MB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-12-06

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