توفان گرد و غبار در جنوب باختر آسیا Dust Storm in Southwest Asia

Dust storms have been raging across southwestern Asia and the Middle East in mid-March 2012. Intense dust events spanned thousands of kilometers from the Red Sea to Afgashistan, and from the Arabian Peninsula to India. Earlier in the month, dust was on the move in Iraq and Syria and along Africa’s Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts.

On March 19, 2012, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image (above) of a storm sweeping across Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Some source points are visible in southern Afghanistan, and the dust blew in southeast-northeast arcs. Most of the dust plumes in this storm were thick enough to completely obscure the land and water surfaces below.

A combination of sand seas and impermanent lakes occur along the borders between Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, and the fine sediments there often provide material for dust storms. Winds provide the other necessary ingredient, and hot temperatures can increase the likelihood of dust storms by making air near the ground unstable.

According to Gulf News, several meteorologists characterized the dust activity as a “super sandstorm.” The cause of the storms was likely the convergence of two different weather fronts. The first carried dust from Iraq and Kuwait, and the second front stirred dust in southeastern Iran.

1.   References

2.   Kazmi, A., Ain, A. (2012, March 21 [local time zone]) Double trouble in the sands. Gulf News. Accessed March 20, 2012.

3.   Pakistan Meteorological Department. (2012, March 19). Weather Outlook. Accessed March 19, 2012.

4.   University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (2010) Forecasting Dust Storms. (Registration required.) Accessed March 19, 2012.

On March 20, 2012, a giant dust plume stretched across the Arabian Sea from the coast of Oman to India. TheModerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day. This extensive plume followed days of dust-storm activity over the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia.

Gulf News reported that several meteorologists had characterized the late March dust activity in this region as a “super sandstorm” with effects reaching as far as Southeast Asia. The dust storm resulted from the convergence of two different storms. The first front carried dust from Iraq and Kuwait, and the second front stirred dust insoutheastern Iran. “For many it was the worst dust storm in recent years,” Gulf News said.

1.   References

2.   Kazmi, A., Ain, A. (2012, March 21 [local time zone]) Double trouble in the sands. Gulf News. Accessed March 20, 2012.

Dust over the Arabian Sea

گرد و غبار بر فراز دریای عمان

The dust storm that formed on March 17 spread across the Arabian Peninsula the following day. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on March 18, 2012.

The dust blew generally eastward across Iraq, and curved toward the south and southwest over Saudi Arabia. Besides Iraq and Saudi Arabia, thick dust hovered over westernmost Iran and part of the Persian Gulf. In what was probably a separate dust storm, plumes also blew westward from Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea.

Fine sediments from the Tigris and Euphrates Riverbeds in Iraq, and vast sand seas in Saudi Arabia provide plentiful material for dust storms, making this region one of the most prolific dust-storm producing areas on Earth.

Gulf News reported that dust storm activity had disrupted air traffic in the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, closed schools in Oman, and sent hundreds to the hospital with breathing difficulties.

1.   References

2.   Kazmi, A., Vaidya, S.K. (2012, March 20 [local time zone]) Bad weather hits Fujairah air traffic. Gulf News. Accessed March 19, 2012.

Dust over Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf

گرد و غبار بر فراز عربستان و خلیج فارس

On March 11, 2012, dust and clouds approximated a paisley pattern over the Arabian Sea. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite took this picture the same day.

The dust in this storm likely arose from a sand sea known as the Empty Quarter, or Rub’ al Khali. Holding roughly half as much sand as the entire Sahara Desert, the Empty Quarter covers parts of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, and helps make the Arabian Peninsula one of the world’s most prolific dust-producing regions.

The bright area near the bottom edge of the image is not part of the dust plume. This is sunglint—sunlight reflecting off the ocean surface and into the satellite sensor.

1.   References

2.   University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. (2010) Forecasting Dust Storms. (Registration required.) Accessed March 14, 2012.

3.   Webster, D., (2005, February 1) Empty Quarter. National Geographic. Accessed March 14, 2012.

Dust off the Coast of Oman

گرد و غبار در راه کناره ی عمان

In early March 2012, Saharan dust blowing off the west coast of Africa concentrated into a thick, narrow plume that traveled northward over the Atlantic Ocean. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’sTerra satellite captured this natural-color image on March 11.

The river of dust blowing northward over the Atlantic was at the same latitude as the Iberian Peninsula, just hundreds of kilometers to the west. Shifting winds west of Africa apparently channeled the dust northward, and concentrated it into a narrow plume.

The high-resolution version of this image has a resolution of 500 meters.

Dust West of Europe

گردو غبار در باختر اروپا

Thick dust blew off the northern coast of Africa and over the Mediterranean Sea in early March 2012. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on March 10. The dust plumes blew off the coast of both eastern and western Libya with clear skies predominating between the plumes. The eastern plume appeared larger while the western plume mingled with clouds northwest of Tripoli.

Most of Libya is desert or semi-desert, with arable land accounting for only about 1 percent of the country’s land surface. Hot, dry, dust-laden winds in the spring and fall can last for days, and dust storms count among Libya’s most frequent natural hazards.

1.   References

2.   CIA World Factbook. (2012, February 23) Libya. Accessed March 14, 2012.

Dust over the Mediterranean Sea

گردو غبار بر فراز دریا ی مدیترانه

انگاره های تازه ی سپید ه دم : توفان های خورشیدی که سبب پرتوهای شمالی گوی زمین است Arctic Auroras

Aurora Storm

Photograph by Rune Stoltz Bertinussen, Scanpix/Reuters

Green auroras hang like storm clouds in the skies near Tromsø, Norway, on Wednesday.

This week's solar storm was strong enough to cause sporadic radio blackouts in high-latitude regions, spurring some airlines to reroute polar flights. Still, the storm is considered to be moderate and isn't expected to cause major disturbances to ground- or space-based equipment, experts said.

Aurora Hunting

Photograph courtesy Andy Keen

A multicolored blade of light seems poised to strike over a snowy forest in Ivalo,Finland, on January 22. Late last week a NASA satellite witnessed a solar flare and CME from a different active region on the sun. That solar event triggered a round of auroras over the weekend, including the display captured above.

"At approximately 19:00 hrs the night sky over our Guest house was illuminated by the most spectacular display of Northern Lights, which lasted for several hours," photographer Andy Keen wrote on Spaceweather.com.

"The temperatures plummeted to a chilly -25 degrees Centigrade [-13 degrees Fahrenheit]—cold enough to make our lenses freeze and turn our camera bodies white."

Aurora Trek

Photograph courtesy Antti Pietikäinen

A snowmobiler stops to admire the northern lights in Finnish Lapland on January 24.

Improved computer models and a fleet of sun-watching satellites are helping space-weather experts better predict when CMEs will strike Earth—which also allows for more precise aurora forecasts.

"We went out with snowmobiles to wait for the incoming storm," photographer Antti Pietikäinen wrote on Spaceweather.com. "Show started slowly, and after 15 minutes the landscape was green!"

Aurora on Ice

Photograph by Thilo Bubek

Northern lights flow over the snow-dusted mountains near Tromsø, Norway, on January 21. The stitched panorama picture also shows the auroras reflected in smooth ice, which is "normally ... covered by snow in winter time," according to photographer Thilo Bubek.

Ghostly Glow

Photograph courtesy Pavel Kantsurov

Curtains of auroras shimmer over the snow covered forests of Norilsk, Russia, on January 22.

Although auroras are most common closer to the Poles, strong geomagnetic storms can trigger the light shows in lower latitudes. (See aurora pictures: "Rare Northern Lights Seen in U.S. South.")

For instance, during the biggest solar storm on record—the 1859 Carrington Event—northern lights were reported as far south as Cuba and Hawaii, while southern lights were seen as far north as Santiago, Chile.

Green Lantern

Photograph by Thilo Bubek

Bright green auroras light up the night sky in a picture taken near Tromsø, Norway, on January 21.

The colors of auroras depend on the types of gases in Earth's atmosphere being affected by a solar storm. In most cases, auroral lights come from oxygen being "excited"—given extra electrical energy—during the collisions of gas atoms with solar particles. The charged-up oxygen releases the extra energy as green light.

Wings of Lights

Photograph by Bjørn Jørgensen

Bright auroras seem to spread like wings over the mountains outside of Tromsø, Norway, on January 22.

"This was amazing," photographer Bjørn Jørgensen wrote on Spaceweather.com. "It was a wonderful experience to see these stunning auroras."

Aurora Ahoy

Photograph courtesy Øystein Lunde Ingvaldsen

A blanket of green hangs over the coast of Bø in northern Norway in a picture taken January 6.

In general, auroras have been ramping up over the past year as the sun has approached what's known as solar maximum, a period of more intense activity in our star's natural 11-year cycle.

Scientists predict the sun will reach solar max in 2013, and that we'll continue to see more frequent and intense flares, CMEs, and other eruptions that—when aimed at Earth—might not only supercharge auroras but could also carry risks for airplanes, satellites, and the power grid.

سپیده دم شمالگان – قطب شمال – Arctic Auroras

Photograph by Ole C. Salomonsen, arcticlightphoto.no

Northern lights dance over the Lyngan Alps in a picture taken Tuesday night near Tromsø, Norway. The brilliant auroras were triggered by a coronal mass ejection, or CME, that hit our planet Tuesday morning. A CME is a cloud of superheated gas and charged particles hurled off the sun.

On Monday, space-weather scientists reported that an especially strong solar flare had erupted from an active region on the sun, followed by the huge CME that came barreling toward our planet. The burst of activity triggered the strongest solar storm experienced since October 2003, according to experts atNOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

When a CME hits Earth, the charged solar particles can interact with gases in our atmosphere to produce the northern and southern lights. Sky-watchers were put on alert for intense auroras Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.

Antarctic Ozone Hole

100 Years at Kilauea

Kilauea has experienced a long-term eruption since 1983, though scientists have actually been keeping an eye on the volcano for much longer. January 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which stands watch over one of our planet’s most active volcanoes. Situated on the rim of Kilauea Caldera, this observatory is the oldest volcano monitoring station in the United States.

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite observed the volcano on January 28, 2012. Shown here are two natural-color views: a close-up of the Kilauea Caldera and the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and a wide-area view showing Mauna Ulu and Pu’u ’O’o. Within the Kilauea Caldera lies Halema’uma’u Crater. A small plume of water vapor emerges from this crater and blows toward the southwest.

The founding of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is generally identified as January 17, 1912, when geologist Thomas A. Jaggar, Jr., took over the continuous observations of Kilauea. In the decade before Jaggar set up shop, nearly 200,000 people died from earthquakes and volcanoes. In the wake of a devastating eruption at Mount Pelée in 1902, the National Geographic Society sponsored a volcano-observing expedition, and Jaggar was one of the participants. He soon concluded that, rather than studying the damage caused by eruptions, scientists would do more good to identify the precursors. On a trip through Hawaii, he negotiated with local businessmen and secured financial support for an observatory. In 1911, he hired volcanologist Frank Perret to monitor the volcano, then took over observations in January 1912.

Jaggar immediately brought detailed documentation to the observatory, and soon expanded the activities beyond his own observations. The installation of seismometers provided evidence of the link between earthquakes and volcanism. In the 1950s, the observatory installed tiltmeters to help measure surface deformation caused by the movement of magma below the surface. Researchers at the observatory collected gas samples in 1912—some of the earliest high-temperature volcanic gas samples ever collected—and drilled into a lava lake in the 1980s to better understand how volcanic rocks crystallize.

In 2012, a century after its founding, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory hosts 25 scientists and support personnel, along with students and volunteers. It tracks the activity of Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and other volcanoes in the Hawaiian Islands, as well as the associated earthquakes.

1.   References

2.   Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Accessed January 30, 2012.

3.   Kauahikaua, J., Poland, M. (2012). One hundred years of volcano monitoring in Hawaii. EOS, 93(3), 29–30.