Winds flowing around Heard Island in the southwestern Indian Ocean shaped the clouds into a line of spirals.
Image of the Day Atmosphere
Known as von Kármán vortices, the remarkable curling patterns can form nearly anywhere that fluid flow is disturbed by an object.
The Aqua satellite captured this image of von Kármán vortices downwind of Isla Socorro.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Water
Clouds swirled in the southern Atlantic Ocean, northwest of St. Helena, in mid-November 2012.
A common cloud pattern, known as von Kármán vortices, makes an appearance at night.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Remote Sensing
Clouds off the Chilean coast show a unique pattern called a “von Karman vortex street.”
Von Kármán vortices make another appearance near the Canary Islands.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water
Chains of swirling clouds stream behind islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land
Cloud streets and von Karman vortices decorated the skies over the Greenland Sea on February 24, 2009.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Water Snow and Ice
This Valentine in the sky is the visible expression of fluid dynamics at work.
Acquired October 18, 2012, this image shows a dissipating storm and spiral eddies over the western Pacific Ocean.
Severe Storms
Mountain peaks slice through the clouds and air masses, creating Von Karman Vortices.
Clouds trace out atmospheric eddies and vortices near Baja, California.
These Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) images from June 11, 2000 demonstrate a turbulent atmospheric flow pattern known as the von Karman vortex street.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Remote Sensing