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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