NASA weather satellites periodically see clouds hovering over the closed Caspian Sea between Eastern European and Central Asian countries. Recently, a NASA satellite spotted a cloud that looks strange even to the agency. As seen in the image shared by NASA, the cloud resembles a white speck of paint from an artist’s thumb and NASA believes this distinguishes it from the more typical diffuse and scattered cloud cover. Is.
Learn about Stratocumulus Clouds
The image was captured on May 28 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite and is a relatively small cloud stratocumulus, according to Bastian van Diedenhoven, a NASA blog post. Diedenhoven, an atmospheric scientist at the SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research, explained that the word stratocumulus is derived from the Latin words cumulus, meaning heap or heap, and stratus, meaning “to spread” or “cover with a layer”.
These types of clouds form at low altitudes, typically between 600 and 2,000 meters (2,000 and 7,000 ft). For this small cloud in the image, it formed a layer about 100 kilometers across at an altitude of about 1,500 meters (5,000 ft). Diedenhoven further revealed that the clouds must have formed when warm, dry air from the Balkans encountered cold, moist air over the Caspian and carried it across the ocean and spread upon reaching land.
In explaining the sharp edges of a stratocumulus cloud, Diedenhoven said in a statement, “Sharp edges often form when dry, warm air coming from land collides with cool moist air over the ocean, and clouds form at that boundary.” are formed. You often see it off the west coast of Africa but on a much larger scale”.
This is not the first time that weather satellites hovering over our planet have captured breathtaking views of the clouds beneath them. Recently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shared a photo of clouds carrying a message over the course of a weekend. See for yourself below.
