February 9, 2022 - Clouds of Color in the Persian Gulf
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The blue waters of the Persian Gulf were colored with swirls of green,
teal, and tan in early February 2022. The Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a
true-color image of the scene on February 8.
Clouds of green swirling near the shore appears to be sediment that has
been washed into the water from the land. Sediment can be carried by
rain, washed from the shoreline or churned up from the bottom by tides
or waves, or blown in by wind. Given the arid climate with nearly sand
seas and deserts, at least some of the sediment is likely to have come
from dust storms, but the location is suggestive of water action on
relatively shallow bottoms.
Some of the bright colors also may come from blooms of plant-like
organisms, such as phytoplankton or algae. Both types of organisms live
year-round in these waters and can reproduce explosively when
conditions are just right.
The Persian Gulf is flanked by the Arabian Peninsula with its vast tan,
pink and white sand deserts in the south and west, and the dry
mountains of Iran in the north.
Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 2/8/2022
Resolutions: 1km (264.5 KB), 500m (624.6 KB), 250m (323.6
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-02-09
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