Start Date: End Date: Published Date Data Date
Data acquired November 12, 2004 550 x 700 50 KB - JPEG
Data acquired November 12, 2004 1100 x 1400 197 KB - JPEG
Data acquired November 12, 2004 2200 x 2800 580 KB - JPEG
Ripples in the air are often visible in cloud patterns, and this image is one example. In this case, something caused a disturbance in the layers of the atmosphere, setting up a wave similar to waves in the ocean. Here, clouds have formed on the crests of the rising and falling waves of air. These waves are called “atmospheric gravity waves,” and they often form when air flows over a mountain range. Buoyancy pushes the air to the crest of the wave, then gravity pulls the air down. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite detected these waves off the shore of Pakistan over the Arabian Sea on November 12, 2004.
Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC
Published November 15, 2004 Data acquired November 12, 2004