Strong winds transport mineral dust from Earth's deserts and other dry regions through the atmosphere every year, equal to 10,000 aircraft carriers.

A NASA instrument called Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) will be launched to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft at 5:44 p.m. on Thursday, July 14.

The agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena developed the state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer that will gather more than a billion dust-source-composition measurements over a year. This will improve scientists' understanding of dust's influence on Earth.

Scientists find it difficult to collect soil and dust samples over large areas in desert regions because they are largely remote. They also produce most of the mineral dust that enters the atmosphere.

It will map the world's mineral dust sources from its space station position. The imaging spectrometer will also reveal the color and composition of dust sources globally.

Because dust particles in the atmosphere have different properties, scientists are not sure whether mineral dust can cumulatively heat or cool the planet. For example, some dust particles may be dark red while others might be white.

If more dust absorbs the Sun's energy than reflects it, it'll warm the planet, and vice versa, if the color matters. Minerals with dark colors absorb the Sun's energy, while minerals with light colors reflect it.

Researchers will be able to determine whether dust affects global, regional, and local temperatures based on the amount of dust coming from dark and light minerals.

As a consequence of the composition of mineral dust particles, they vary in color. For example, dark red mineral dust gets its color from iron. Dust particles interact with many natural processes on Earth because of their composition.

A mineral dust deposit can act like fertilizer on a growing plant when it falls on ice or snow. It can also play a role in cloud formation and atmospheric chemistry. Inhaling mineral dust can cause health hazards.

Mineral dust effects on ecosystems and processes will be assessed with the help of EMIT data collected on 10 major types of dust, including those that contain iron oxides, clays, and carbonates.

The current classification of mineral dust in climate models is yellow - a general average of dark and light dust, without more specific data.

Computer models do not adequately represent the effects that mineral dust may have on climate - or the effects that climate may have on mineral dust – because of this. The EMIT will provide color and composition information that will improve the accuracy of climate models when incorporated into them.

There is a possibility that deserts will grow larger and dustier as global temperatures rise. Several factors influence how much this may happen, including how land use changes, how rainfall trends change, and how much human activity changes.

Scientists will gain a better understanding of the amount and composition of dust in arid regions by incorporating EMIT's global dust source composition data into models and predictions.