May 10, 2021 - Van Karman Vortices off Guadalupe Island

    Follow @NASA_MODIS

   Van Karman Vortices off Guadalupe Island
    Tweet
    Share

   From time to time a combination of wind, cloud cover, and tall islands
   conspire to create stunning scenery when viewed from space. On May 3,
   2021, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
   board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of such a
   moment when wind blowing past Guadalupe Island resulted in snake-like
   swirls in the cloud cover. Guadalupe island is a tall volcanic island
   that rises sharply from the Pacific Ocean not far from the coast of
   Baja California, Mexico.

   These dramatic patterns were first described in 1912, when physicist
   Theodore von Kármán first described a process that makes long,
   spiraling cloud patterns in the sky. These so-called “von Kármán
   vortices” arise when winds are diverted around a blunt, high-profile
   area, often an island rising from the ocean. The alternating direction
   of rotation in the air forms swirls in the clouds. Formation and
   pattern of the vortices are driven by the direction of the prevailing
   winds, which can change seasonally, leading to differences in the
   direction and structure of the vortices. These patterns frequently form
   behind Guadalupe Island.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 5/3/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (179.9 KB),  500m (500.5 KB),  250m (323.4
   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=2021-05-10
 
