In addition to posing scientific challenges and opportunities, sunglint makes for some spectacular satellite images.
Published Sep 11, 2014
This detailed astronaut photograph features surface currents illuminated by mirror-like reflections of sunlight off the waters around the Malée Atoll in the Maldive Islands.
Published Mar 1, 2010
When an eastward flow of air hit the Balleny Islands, it formed a wave pattern in the clouds and on the ocean surface.
Published Dec 8, 2017
Atmospheric waves and internal waves make an appearance on the same day off the western coast of Australia.
Published Feb 17, 2016
In these images captured by International Space Station astronauts on August 27, 2006, bright sunlight glinting off the western Caribbean Sea reveals intersecting wave patterns and oily surfactants on the surface waters around Bajo Nuevo Reef. Bajo Nuevo is a collection of small islets arranged into two U-shaped cays, low islands made of coral or sand. This pair of images shows the easternmost of the two cays (also known as “keys”) and surrounding waters.
Published Oct 2, 2006
A photograph of an uninhabited atoll in the Indian Ocean has an almost surreal quality due to varying degrees of sunglint.
Published Apr 18, 2011
Shot by an astronaut looking westward from the International Space Station from a location over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, this May 4, 2010, photograph shows the Deepwater Horizon oil slick brushing the Chandeleur Islands.
Published May 10, 2010
An intricate interaction of waves shapes the clouds in the North Sea, making patterns that echo basic principles of nature.
Published Nov 25, 2011
The combination of sunlight, islands, and wind painted this scene on the surface of the Caribbean Sea.
Published Apr 19, 2014
The complex patterns are due to waves, winds, the presence of oils or surfactants, and the presence of boats and drilling platforms.
Published Aug 25, 2019
The Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area is the largest in Texas, with an approximate population of 6 million people in 2005.
Published Jul 25, 2005
Like a massive, ethereal bird gliding into the Persian Gulf, a large cluster of wave clouds spans the Arabian Sea from Oman to India. This cloud formation is likely an undular bore, which is created in the interaction between the cool, dry air in a low-pressure system with a stable layer of warm, moist air.
Published Jun 9, 2007
The play of sunlight on water gives definition to the jagged coastlines of Sardinia and Corsica.
Published Jun 14, 2020
An astronaut photographed the interplay of light and wind on South America’s largest lake.
Published Jan 9, 2017
The waters along the west coast of North America are some of the most biologically productive in the world.
Published Mar 1, 2016
