• MODIS Pic of the Day 19 May 2022

    From Dan Richter@1:317/3 to All on Thu May 19 12:00:12 2022
    May 19, 2022 - Von Kármán Vortices in the Clouds off Guadalupe Island

    Von Karman Vortice Clouds off Guadalupe Island
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    On May 17, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
    (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
    stunningly beautiful swirls in a large bank of marine stratocumulus
    clouds near Guadalupe Island. The string of alternate swirls, which
    form string of paisley-like patterns on the lee side of Guadalupe
    Island are called “von Kármán vortices” and arise when winds are
    diverted around a blunt, high-profile object, often an island rising
    from the ocean. The alternating direction of rotation in the air forms
    swirls in the clouds. Such vortices were first described in 1912 by
    physicist Theodore von Kármán.

    Guadalupe Island sits in the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles off of the
    coast of Mexico’s Baja California. Only 21 miles (35 km) long, the
    highest point, Mount Augusta, soars to 4,257 feet (1,297
    meters—creating a significant impediment to the movement of wind
    blowing by it over an otherwise nearly-flat ocean surface. When rushing
    water slams into an immobile object—such as a dock piling—it’s easy to
    see that turbulence is created, leaving swirls behind the piling.
    Principals of fluid motion also apply to the atmosphere, so when winds
    are diverted around an immobile object, such as a tall mountain on an
    island, turbulence is created on the lee side (the side away from the
    motion of the wind). Since air is invisible, this atmospheric ocean is
    only visible when clouds fill the sky.

    Image Facts
    Satellite: Aqua
    Date Acquired: 5/17/2022
    Resolutions: 1km (410.1 KB), 500m (1019.5 KB), 250m (718.7
    KB)
    Bands Used: 1,4,3
    Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



    https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-05-19

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