April 29, 2023 - Vortices behind Isla Gudalupe

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On April 27, 2023, the combination of wind, widespread cumulus cloud,
and a tall volcanic island combined to create a gorgeous pattern on the
lee side of Isla Guadalupe. The Moderate Resolution Imaging
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a
true-color image of the fanciful pattern of snake-like swirls spun over
the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California, Mexico.

Isla Guadalupe (Guadalupe Island) sits just off the edge of the North
American continental plate just 160 miles west of Mexico. Only 22 miles
long, it is a rugged island, with the tallest volcanic peak jutting
upwards 4,200 feet above sea level—plenty tall enough to interrupt the
flow of wind that frequently roars across the island. It’s this
disruption of wind flow that creates the spiraling patterns behind the
island.

In 1912, physicist Theodore von Kármán detailed a process that makes
long, spiraling cloud patterns in the sky. Now called “von Kármán
vortices”, they occur when strong winds strike and then are diverted
around a blunt, high-profile area, such as the tall mountain on Isla
Guadalupe. As the air pushes past both sides of the mountain, it begins
to spin, creating alternating directions of rotation. When a layer of
cumulus cloud sits behind the island, they are caught up in the swirls,
creating the gorgeous patterns seen in this image.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/27/2023
Resolutions: 1km (185 KB), 500m (487.9 KB), 250m (351.2 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-04-29

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