Images
May 28, 2008 - Vortex Street and Glory
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The MODIS on the Aqua satellite acquired this interesting image on May 20, 2008, showing Guadalupe Island, which is off the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Turbulence, caused by the wind passing over the island, can produce pronounced eddies that swirl the clouds into a pattern called a vortex "street". The swirls extend south from the island, which is visible
through the break in the clouds.
This phenomena occurs when clouds over the ocean become aligned with the direction of a low-level wind, producing parallel rows, or streets, of
clouds. When that flow is interrupted by a land mass, turbulence can
create vortices that are responsible for the "eye" features, hence the
name "vortex streets."
The second interesting feature of this image is the narrow, elliptical
rainbow that can be seen to the left of Guadelupe Island. It is fairly
faint and slightly reddish. This phenomenon is called a glory, which is
often produced when light at the observer's anti-solar point falls on a
cloud deck below. What is the anti-solar point? If you had been standing
on the Aqua satellite as it orbited the Earth, looking down at the cloud
deck below you, the sun would have been directly behind you - 180 degrees from your line of sight. Ice and water particles in the cloud bend the light and reveal all its colors, or wavelengths. Often, when a glory is
seen from an airplane, viewers will see the shadow of the airplane in the
center of the glory.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 05/20/2008
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The MODIS on the Aqua satellite acquired this interesting image on May 20, 2008, showing Guadalupe Island, which is off the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula. Turbulence, caused by the wind passing over the island, can produce pronounced eddies that swirl the clouds into a pattern called a vortex "street". The swirls extend south from the island, which is visible through the break in the clouds.
This phenomena occurs when clouds over the ocean become aligned with the direction of a low-level wind, producing parallel rows, or streets, of clouds. When that flow is interrupted by a land mass, turbulence can create vortices that are responsible for the "eye" features, hence the name "vortex streets."
The second interesting feature of this image is the narrow, elliptical rainbow that can be seen to the left of Guadelupe Island. It is fairly faint and slightly reddish. This phenomenon is called a glory, which is often produced when light at the observer's anti-solar point falls on a cloud deck below. What is the anti-solar point? If you had been standing on the Aqua satellite as it orbited the Earth, looking down at the cloud deck below you, the sun would have been directly behind you - 180 degrees from your line of sight. Ice and water particles in the cloud bend the light and reveal all its colors, or wavelengths. Often, when a glory is seen from an airplane, viewers will see the shadow of the airplane in the center of the glory.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 05/20/2008
Resolutions:
1km ( B), 500m ( B), 250m ( B)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
