Sandstorm over Arabian Sea

Sandstorm over Arabian Sea

On 16 December, a strong sandstorm spread from southern Iran and Balochistan (southwestern Pakistan) across the western Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, covering more than 400,000 km² (VIIRS SNPP image, Figure 1).
The highest aerosol concentration (aerosol Index up to 3-3.2) was observed over Balochistan, in the region of Washuk and Chagai Districts (about 28°N, 64°E) reaching an area of more than 50,000 km² (VIIRS SNPP image, Figure 2).
On 17 December, the aerosol area over the Arabian Sea alone exceeded 1.1 million square kilometres.
In addition, the Sentinel-2 image (17 December, Figure 3) shows the front of the dust cloud (Aerosol Index up to 0.8-1.0), approaching the coast of the Arabian Peninsula (Oman).

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

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