--- title: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D | TIME description: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D canonical: https://time.com/video/ozFiB7RV/ og:title: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D og:description: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D og:url: https://time.com/video/ozFiB7RV/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ozFiB7RV/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D twitter:description: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ozFiB7RV/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D [Watch (HLS stream): NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ozFiB7RV.m3u8) (2:13)  _Published 2015-02-26. NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D_ --- Jul 27, 2023 5:58 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [NASA’s New Planet-Hunting Satellite Is on a Quest to Find Alien Worlds](/video/rSiNRxLA/) ### NASA’s New Planet-Hunting Satellite Is on a Quest to Find Alien Worlds [Satellite Images Aided the Discovery of an Ancient Civilization Buried in the Amazon](/video/AksHinsW/) ### Satellite Images Aided the Discovery of an Ancient Civilization Buried in the Amazon [NASA’s 3-D Tour of the International Space Station](/video/a0hpUwGX/) ### NASA’s 3-D Tour of the International Space Station --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] NASA scientists have performed the first multi- year study using satellite data to measure the 3D distribution of dust that travels from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest. The Sahara is the world's largest desert at more than three million square miles. It's almost the size of the continental United States. Each year, Saharan dust is lifted from the ground and transported by winds on a 3000 mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean. A portion of the dust collects in the Amazon basin, the largest rainforest on the planet. Although the dust particles are small, no larger than around a tenth of the width of a human hair, they form massive plumes that can be seen from space. NASA's Calypso satellite was launched in 2006 to study the vertical structure of clouds and particles in Earth's atmosphere. Calypso observations from 2007 through 2013 show that, on average, 182 million tons of dust leaves Africa each year. Of this amount, about 27 million tons is deposited in the Amazon Basin. Sahara dust contains phosphorous, which is an important nutrient for plants. In the tropic region, the phosphorous is quite limited, so it's important to estimate how much dust from the desert is transported to the Amazon. The study shows Saharan dust adds phosphorus to the soils that help compensate for losses due to surface runoff and floods. However, the amount of dust transported to the Amazon changes from year to year. According to the study, this variation is closely associated with changes in rainfall in the Sahel, a bout of semi- arid land just south of the Sahara. When the Sahara was dry the dust transported to the Amazon in the next year with the increase. When it was wet that transformed to a decrease. Using satellites to get a clear picture. So dust is important for understanding and eventually using computers to model where that dust will go now and in the future climate scenarios. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D","description":"NASA | Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ozFiB7RV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-02-26T14:10:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ozFiB7RV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/ozFiB7RV/","duration":"PT2M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/ozFiB7RV/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```