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A Particular Lenticular Cloud

A part of New Zealand's South Island as seen by the Landsat 8 satellite. A long, thin white cloud floats above the green and brown landscape. A bit of water is visible on the right of the image.
New Zealand’s stunning scenery has famously provided the backdrop for fictional worlds in fantasy films. A unique cloud that forms over the Otago region of the country’s South Island also evokes the otherworldly, while very much existing in reality.
NASA/Lauren Dauphin; USGS

Landsat 8’s Operational Land Imager acquired this image of an elongated lenticular cloud, locally nicknamed the “Taieri Pet,” above New Zealand’s South Island on Sept. 7, 2024. Lenticular clouds form when prevailing winds encounter a topographic barrier, such as a mountain range. Wind that is forced to flow up and over the mountains creates a kind of wave in the atmosphere. Air cools at the crest of the wave, and the water vapor it contains condenses into clouds.

Image credit: NASA/Lauren Dauphin; USGS



October 30, 2024 at 12:35AM from NASA https://ift.tt/1d7RuQi
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