Earth photographed from space by an astronaut orbiting over the South Atlantic Ocean 3 Nov 2019

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Earth photographed from space by an astronaut orbiting over the South Atlantic Ocean -- latitude -51.7, longitude -8.9 -- on 3 November 2019 at 17:58:33 GMT aboard the International Space Station

https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/DatabaseImages/ESC/large/ISS061/ISS061-E-27623.JPG


Source:

"ISS061-E-27623" by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), United States of America (USA): https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=ISS061&roll=E&frame=27623

5568 x 3712 pixels: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/DatabaseImages/ESC/large/ISS061/ISS061-E-27623.JPG

Camera file: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/DatabaseCameraFiles/ISS061/ISS061-E-27623.txt

See ISS061-E-27623 to ISS061-E-27669 in the photographs taken on 3 November 2019 from the International Space Station (ISS): https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/Technical.pl?SearchPublicCB=on&SearchGeonCB=on&year=2019&IncludePanCB=on&month=11&day=3&SearchFeatCB=on

On The Map: Atlantic Ocean

https://cdn.britannica.com/04/6004-050-0816A49C/depth-contours-Atlantic-Ocean-submarine-features.jpg via https://www.britannica.com/place/Atlantic-Ocean

Wake pattern in the stratus clouds over the Pacific Ocean photographed from space on 8 September 2007 at 21:12:12.145 GMT from the International Space Station: 3032 x 2005 pixels

Source for #2: #15 at http://chamorrobible.org/gpw/gpw-20061021-English.htm

Via: http://chamorrobible.org

"South Sandwich Island Cloud Wakes: In the Southern Atlantic, a chain of eleven volcanic islands rises up from the ocean in an arc that extends roughly 240 miles (400 km) north to south. As is apparent in this true-color image, the islands are tall enough to disrupt the cloud patterns forming and flowing around them." by NASA, published on 29 January 2004: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/4174/south-sandwich-island-cloud-wakes


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Related:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b1/Wave_cloud.jpg/300px-Wave_cloud.jpg (https://www.revolvy.com/main/)


This wave cloud pattern formed over the Île Amsterdam (https://www.revolvy.com/page/%C3%8Ele-Amsterdam), in the lower left corner at the tip of the triangular formation, in the far southern Indian Ocean (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Indian-Ocean).

A wave cloud is a cloud (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Cloud) form created by atmospheric internal waves (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Internal-wave).

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Tadrart01.JPG/300px-Tadrart01.JPG
(https://www.revolvy.com/main/) Wave cloud pattern in Tadrart (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Tadrart-Acacus) region.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/AralSea_AMO_200907_lrg.jpg/300px-AralSea_AMO_200907_lrg.jpg (https://www.revolvy.com/main/)


Unusual wave clouds over the Aral Sea (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Aral-Sea), seen from NASA's Aqua satellite (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Aqua-(satellite)) on March 12, 2009.

Formation

The atmospheric internal waves (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Internal-wave) that form wave clouds are created as stable air flows over a raised land feature such as a mountain range (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Mountain-range), and can form either directly above or in the lee of the feature. As an air mass travels through the wave, it undergoes repeated uplift and descent. If there is enough moisture in the atmosphere, clouds will form at the cooled crests of these waves. In the descending part of the wave, those clouds will evaporate due to adiabatic (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Adiabatic-process) heating, leading to the characteristic clouded and clear bands. The cloud base on the leeward (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Leeward) side is higher than on the windward side, because precipitation on the windward side removes water from the air.[1]

It is possible that simple convection (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Convection) from mountain summits can also form wave clouds. This occurs as the convection forces a wave or lenticular wave cloud into the more stable air above.[2]

Climate modeling
Wave clouds are typically mid- to upper-tropospheric ice clouds. They are relatively easy to study, because they are quite consistent. As a result, they are being analyzed to increase our understanding of how these upper-level ice clouds influence the Earth's radiation budget. Understanding this can improve climate models.[3]

Recreation
The streamlines in these clouds have the steepest slope a few kilometers downwind of the lee slope of a mountain. It is in these regions of highest vertical velocity that sailplanes (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Gliding) can reach record-breaking altitudes.[1]

Structure
In an ideal model, a wave cloud consists of supercooled (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Supercooled) liquid water at the lower part, a mixed phase of frozen and liquid water near the ridge, and ice beginning slightly below the ridge and extending downstream. However, this doesn't always occur. Wave cloud structure ranges from smooth and simple, to jumbled phases occurring randomly.[1] Often, ice crystals can be found downwind of the waves. Whether this happens depends on the saturation of the air. The composition of the ice is currently an active topic of study. The main mechanism for ice formation is homogeneous nucleation (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Nucleation). The ice crystals are mostly small spheroidal and irregular-shaped particles. Ice columns make up less than 1%,[4] and plates are virtually nonexistent.[3] Multi-level mountain wave clouds form when the moisture in the air above the mountain is located in distinct layers, and vertical mixing is inhibited.

See also


Lee waves (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Lee-waves)
Orographic lift (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Orographic-lift)
Horizontal convective rolls (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Horizontal-convective-rolls)

References


Wallace, John M., Hobbs, Peter V. Atmospheric Science, and Introductory Survey. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1977.
Worthington, R. M. "Lenticular wave cloud above the convective boundary layer of the Rocky Mountains," Weather 57(2002):87–90.
Baker, B. A., Lawson, R. P. (2006) In Situ Observations of the Microphysical Properties of Wave, Cirrus, and Anvil Clouds. Wave clouds got their name because they look like waves. Part I: Wave Clouds. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences: Vol. 63, No. 12 pp. 3160–3185
"Cloud Crystals - Columns & Plates - Atmospheric Optics" (http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halo/platcol.htm).

Source (https://www.revolvy.com/page/Wave-cloud)

Related:
https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/72000/72267/Crozet.A2004307.1015.250m.jpg

Ship-wave-shaped wave clouds and cloud vortices induced by the Crozet Islands, Indian Ocean

In the wake of the Crozet Islands in the southern Indian Ocean, disrupted air masses have formed patterns in the clouds. This pattern is similar to that seen when eddies form in water running over a pebble on an otherwise smooth surface for much the same reason. In this case, air that had been flowing smoothly over the ocean’s surface is disrupted by the islands, and the clouds, controlled by air currents, have assumed the shape of the disrupted air. Two distinct patterns have formed in the clouds. In the west, left, the clouds have taken a “V”-shaped pattern called ship-wave-shaped wave clouds. To the east, center and right, cloud vortices swirl delicately behind the last of the islands.

Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published November 4, 2004 ... Data acquired November 2, 2004
Source:Aqua > MODIS (https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/source/74/aqua-modis)