1. An estimated 28 million tons of African dust falls on the Amazon rainforest – more than 100,000 semi-truck loads.
2. A small but very important ingredient in the dust is the phosphorus from an ancient dusty lake bed in Chad.
3. The African phosphorus plays a critical role as a natural fertilizer for the Amazon rainforest growth.
TAG: This dust transport is the largest on the planet. Satellite studies will also help determine its relationship to climate changes.
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An estimated 28 million tons of African dust falls on the Amazon rainforest – more than 100,000 semi-truck loads.2. A small but very important ingredient in the dust is the phosphorus from an ancient dusty lake bed in Chad.3. The African phosphorus plays a critical role as a natural fertilizer for the Amazon rainforest growth.TAG: This dust transport is the largest on the planet. Satellite studies will also help determine its relationship to climate changes.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } }, { "id": 283479, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 445952, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011785/DUST_WC3.avi", "filename": "DUST_WC3.avi", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "LEAD: NASA scientists have made the first multi-year satellite-based estimate of how much Saharan dust in Africa floats all the way to South America’s Amazon rainforest.1. 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An estimated 28 million tons of African dust falls on the Amazon rainforest – more than 100,000 semi-truck loads.2. A small but very important ingredient in the dust is the phosphorus from an ancient dusty lake bed in Chad.3. The African phosphorus plays a critical role as a natural fertilizer for the Amazon rainforest growth.TAG: This dust transport is the largest on the planet. Satellite studies will also help determine its relationship to climate changes.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 283489, "type": "media", "extra_data": null, "title": null, "caption": null, "instance": { "id": 445962, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011785/WC_Dust-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180.webm", "filename": "WC_Dust-1920-MASTER_iPad_1920x0180.webm", "media_type": "Movie", "alt_text": "LEAD: NASA scientists have made the first multi-year satellite-based estimate of how much Saharan dust in Africa floats all the way to South America’s Amazon rainforest.1. An estimated 28 million tons of African dust falls on the Amazon rainforest – more than 100,000 semi-truck loads.2. A small but very important ingredient in the dust is the phosphorus from an ancient dusty lake bed in Chad.3. The African phosphorus plays a critical role as a natural fertilizer for the Amazon rainforest growth.TAG: This dust transport is the largest on the planet. Satellite studies will also help determine its relationship to climate changes.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 338477, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11785/#media_group_338477", "widget": "Basic text", "title": "For More Information", "caption": "", "description": "See the following sources:\n\n* [http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-right-now/](http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-right-now/)\n* [http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-feeds-amazon-s-plants/](http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/nasa-satellite-reveals-how-much-saharan-dust-feeds-amazon-s-plants/)", "items": [], "extra_data": {} } ], "studio": "GMS", "funding_sources": [ "PAO" ], "credits": [ { "role": "Producer", "people": [ { "name": "Howard Joe Witte", "employer": "ADNET Systems, Inc." } ] }, { "role": "Data visualizer", "people": [ { "name": "Kel Elkins", "employer": "USRA" }, { "name": "Greg Shirah", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" }, { "name": "Horace Mitchell", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, { "role": "Animator", "people": [ { "name": "Brian Monroe", "employer": "USRA" } ] }, { "role": "Graphics", "people": [ { "name": "Norman Kuring", "employer": "NASA/GSFC" } ] }, { "role": "Video editor", "people": [ { "name": "Joy Ng", "employer": "USRA" } ] } ], "missions": [], "series": [], "tapes": [], "papers": [], "datasets": [], "nasa_science_categories": [ "Earth" ], "keywords": [ "aerosols", "Amazon Basin", "Amazonia", "Atmosphere", "Earth Science", "HDTV", "Location", "Sahara" ], "recommended_pages": [], "related": [ { "id": 11775, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11775/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust To Amazon In 3-D", "description": "For the first time, a NASA satellite has quantified in three dimensions how much dust makes the trans-Atlantic journey from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest. Among this dust is phosphorus, an essential nutrient that acts like a fertilizer, which the Amazon depends on in order to flourish.The new dust transport estimates were derived from data collected by a lidar instrument on NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation, or CALIPSO, satellite from 2007 though 2013.An average of 27.7 million tons of dust per year – enough to fill 104,908 semi trucks – fall to the surface over the Amazon basin. The phosphorus portion, an estimated 22,000 tons per year, is about the same amount as that lost from rain and flooding. The finding is part of a bigger research effort to understand the role of dust and aerosols in the environment and on local and global climate.Research: The fertilizing role of African dust in the Amazon rainforest: A first multiyear assessment based on data from Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite ObservationsJournal: Geophysical Research LettersLink to paper: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL063040/fullHere is the YouTube video. || ", "release_date": "2015-02-24T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-11-14T00:19:02.978514-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 446468, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011775/G2015-021-Saharan_Dust_Travels_To_Amazon-1920-Master_youtube_hq_print.jpg", "filename": "G2015-021-Saharan_Dust_Travels_To_Amazon-1920-Master_youtube_hq_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This is a video explaining the findings from the first multi-year study measuring the 3-D distribution of dust travelling from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon basin. This video features Hongbin Yu, lead author of the study. For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } }, { "id": 4273, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4273/", "page_type": "Visualization", "title": "CALIPSO observes Saharan dust crossing the Atlantic Ocean", "description": "Subtitled visualization depicting Saharan dust travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to the Amazon Basin. MODIS imagery shows a 2D representation of the dust cloud, which is then compared to CALIPSO data curtains showing dust throughout the air column. Seasonal dust flux measurements are visualized using particles systems. Finally, average annual dust deposition into the Amazon Basin is shown by Amazon boundary import/export measurements. || Dust_Entire_1080p_60fps.3072_print.jpg (1024x576) [124.9 KB] || Dust_Entire_1080p_60fps.3072_searchweb.png (320x180) [69.8 KB] || Dust_Entire_1080p_60fps.3072_web.png (320x180) [69.8 KB] || Dust_Entire_1080p_60fps.3072_thm.png (80x40) [5.4 KB] || SaharanDust_720p_60fps.mp4 (1280x720) [73.6 MB] || SaharanDust_1080p_60fps.mp4 (1920x1080) [189.6 MB] || SaharanDust_1080p_60fps.webm (1920x1080) [12.3 MB] || frames/3840x2160_16x9_30p/entire_4k/ (3840x2160) [256.0 KB] || Dust_4k_30fps_2160p.mp4 (3840x2160) [365.9 MB] || ", "release_date": "2015-02-24T09:55:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-11-14T00:06:02.100371-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 445890, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004200/a004273/4273_African_Dust_Still.png", "filename": "4273_African_Dust_Still.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "SIGGRAPH VersionFor complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } }, { "id": 11786, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11786/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Instagram: NASA Tracks Saharan Dust To Amazon In 3-D", "description": "For the first time, a NASA satellite has quantified in three dimensions how much dust makes the trans-Atlantic journey from the Sahara Desert to the Amazon rainforest. Among this dust is phosphorus, an essential nutrient that acts like a fertilizer, which the Amazon depends on in order to flourish.The new dust transport estimates were derived from data collected by a lidar instrument on NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation, or CALIPSO, satellite from 2007 though 2013.An average of 27.7 million tons of dust per year – enough to fill 104,980 semi trucks – fall to the surface over the Amazon basin. The phosphorus portion, an estimated 22,000 tons per year, is about the same amount as that lost from rain and flooding. The finding is part of a bigger research effort to understand the role of dust and aerosols in the environment and on local and global climate. || ", "release_date": "2015-02-24T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2015-12-01T14:38:21.140882-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 434073, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011700/a011786/Dust_INSTA2_print.jpg", "filename": "Dust_INSTA2_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1024, "height": 1024, "pixels": 1048576 } } ], "sources": [], "products": [], "newer_versions": [], "older_versions": [], "alternate_versions": [] }