SOUTHWESTERN ASIA -- 07 Apr 2005 -- Across a wide portion of southwestern Asia, winds were whipping across deserts, sending a froth of dust into the skies on April 7, 2005.

SOUTHWESTERN ASIA -- 07 Apr 2005 -- Across a wide portion of southwestern Asia, winds were whipping across deserts, sending a froth of dust into the skies on April 7, 2005. The wind raised particularly thick streamers of dust from the surfaces of the Margo Desert in southern Afghanistan and the Thar Desert, which straddles the border between Pakistan and India. Like an atmospheric alter ego of the Indus River, an airborne river of dust flows southward from the Thar Desert and out over the Arabian Sea. Iran appears on the left edge, with Afghanistan along the top, and Pakistan on much of the right. Two smaller portions of land on the right image edge are India, while the tiny bit of land pointing east from the left edge is Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula. Between them all is the Arabian Sea -- Picture by Lightroom Photos / NASA / Topfoto