We in the Caribbean experience a Saharan dust season, also know as the Saharan Air Layer. SAL has unique properties of warmth, dry air, and strong winds. It brings mineral rich dust that provides nutrients for tropical rainforests and marine life. It can also have significant moderating impacts on tropical cyclone formation. NASA researchers is on St. Croix for the next five weeks to observe the Saharan air layer and tropical weather. The team’s observations will then be merged into computer models to get improve the predictions that the computer make for both weather and climate as reported by the St. Croix Source recently.
See University of Washington professor Shuyi Chen and deputy program scientist Aaron J. Pina discuss the research they are conducting for NASA on St. Croix and how it will hopefully help scientists understand weather in the local region and how it impacts the United States mainland.
Read the full article on St Croix Source.
Photo above was taken by NASA Astronaut Doug Hurley who saw the 2020 Saharan dust plume from the International Space Station.
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