Saharan dust plume over Europe

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service provided information about the plume of Saharan dust and ashes from fires in Portugal and Spain as was swept across Europe by Storm Ophelia on 16 October 2017. The animation shows how different aerosols were distributed where blue represents sea salts, yellow desert dust, green wildfires, red sulphate, in terms of Aerosol Optical Depth on 16–20 October. Measuring numerous gases and aerosols that affect air quality, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission is set to improve maps such as these.