The Aqua satellite captured this image of von Kármán vortices downwind of Isla Socorro.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Water
Winds flowing around Heard Island in the southwestern Indian Ocean shaped the clouds into a line of spirals.
Image of the Day Atmosphere
Wind flowing past an island created this spiraling cloud pattern off the coast of Greenland.
Atmosphere Unique Imagery
Von Kármán vortices make another appearance near the Canary Islands.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land Water
Clouds swirled in the southern Atlantic Ocean, northwest of St. Helena, in mid-November 2012.
This Valentine in the sky is the visible expression of fluid dynamics at work.
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.”
Chains of swirling clouds stream behind islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Land
Clouds, winds, and volcanic islands collaborated on giant paisley patters over the southeastern Pacific Ocean.
Ships and islands contributed to an intricate cloud pattern over the northern Pacific Ocean in April 2013.
Clouds trace out atmospheric eddies and vortices near Baja, California.
An image from the remote South Sandwich Islands shows how volcanic emissions can create clouds, while the islands themselves deform those clouds.
Image of the Day Atmosphere Heat