images

Afghanistan Dust Front

by

Nasa/Novapix

Reference

t-asafg-00001

Date

2010-03-29

Winds in the upper Amu Darya valley, along the northern border of
Afghanistan lofted thick, light brown dust into the air (top half of the
view). In this desert environment land surfaces are not protected by
vegetation from the effect of blowing wind. The central Asian deserts
experience the greatest number of dust storm days on the planet each
year. The sharp dust front shows that the dust has not traveled far, but
has been raised from the surfaces in the view. Image taken from the space shuttle Atlantis in september 2000.