Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired December 19, 2005 700 x 500 125 KB - JPEG
Data acquired December 19, 2005 1400 x 1000 409 KB - JPEG
Data acquired December 19, 2005 2800 x 2000 1008 KB - JPEG
Looking like the “V”-shaped wake behind a boat, ship-wave-shaped wave clouds fan out behind Amsterdam Island in the Indian Ocean. The resemblance to a boat’s wake is no coincidence. The air in the atmosphere acts very much like water. When a boat pushes through smooth water, the water is pushed aside. The resulting wave pattern in the water stretches behind the boat in a “V.” These wave clouds formed in the same fashion. In this case, the air was moving over a smooth ocean surface, when it encountered Amsterdam Island. The disruption set up a “V”-shaped wave pattern in the air just as it would in water. At the top of the waves, the air is cooler and condenses readily into clouds. The bottom or trough of each wave is warmer, so clouds do not form. The end result is the striped pattern seen in this image. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this example of ship-wave-shaped wave clouds on December 19, 2005.
Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published December 22, 2005 Data acquired December 19, 2005