Views of Sahara Dust over the Canary Islands (Spain) and Paris, France
April 15, 2021
Photographers: Jose Fernandez Arozena; Bertrand Kulik
Summary Authors: Jose Fernandez Arozena; Jim Foster
Shown above (top photo) are two views from the window of my home in Santa Cruz de La Palma (Canary Islands), Spain, showing the contrast between a normal view (right) and a view obscured by dust carried westward by a storm originating over the Sahara Desert (left). PM10 values greater than 700 ug/m3 were recorded, which is well above the range considered to be very poor air quality (more than 300 ug/m3). A satellite view of this storm is inset at lower left.
The view at right was taken a week later when the Northeast Trade Winds were blowing over the island of La Palma and sweeping the dust and haze out to sea. Top photo taken on February 16, 2021; bottom photo shows this dust layer as captured by Bertrand Kulik, above Paris, France, on February 21, 2021.