1. African Dust Event August xx – August 12, 2008 Daily Satellite Images Prepared by Bryan Lambeth, P.E. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Monitoring Operations Division September 2009

2. African Dust The following satellite images track dust originating from the Saharan Desert in northern Africa as it travels across the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico from August xx through August 12, 2008. Normally the ocean surface appears very dark when skies are clear and the air is clean. Clouds are usually a bright white. Haze from dust can be detected in cloud-free areas over water by a brightening of the normally dark surface. The brightness corresponds to the intensity of the haze, with greater brightness indicating a higher concentration of dust. Haze boundaries are usually not sharp with a gradual decrease in intensity near the edge of the dust cloud, unlike clouds, which usually have sharp boundaries. Higher clouds also cast tell-tale shadows in late daytime images.

3. August 1, 2008 1745 UTC Clean air Dust cloud emerging from African Coast

4. August 2, 2008 1745 UTC Clean air Dust cloud moving over Cape Verde Islands

5. August 3, 2008 1745 UTC Dust cloud moving across Atlantic Ocean Clean air

6. August 4, 2008 1745 UTC Clean air Dust cloud moving across Atlantic Ocean

7. August 5, 2008 1745 UTC Clean air Dust cloud approaching Lesser Antilles

8. August 5, 2008 2045 UTC Clean air Dust cloud approaching Lesser Antilles

9. August 6, 2008 2045 UTC Dust cloud moving across Lesser Antilles Clean air

10. August 7, 2008 2045 UTC Dust cloud moving through central Caribbean Sea Clean air

11. August 8, 2008 2045 UTC Dust cloud moving through Caribbean Sea Clean air

12. August 8, 2008 2215 UTC Clean air Saharan dust

13. August 9, 2008 2215 UTC Clean air Saharan dust

14. August 10, 2008 2215 UTC Saharan dust Clean air

15. August 11, 2008 2215 UTC Saharan dust Clean air

16. August 12, 2008 2215 UTC Saharan dust Clean air