Images related to Two Views of Von Kármán Vortices

A Swirl of Clouds over the Pacific
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A Swirl of Clouds over the Pacific

The Aqua satellite captured this image of von Kármán vortices downwind of Isla Socorro.

Published Aug 19, 2013

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Nighttime Swirls
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Nighttime Swirls

A common cloud pattern, known as von Kármán vortices, makes an appearance at night.

Published Aug 19, 2019

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Cloud Vortices off St. Helena
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Cloud Vortices off St. Helena

Clouds swirled in the southern Atlantic Ocean, northwest of St. Helena, in mid-November 2012.

Published Nov 25, 2012

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Cloudy Curls
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Cloudy Curls

Von Kármán vortices make another appearance near the Canary Islands.

Published Jul 11, 2020

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Going with the Flow
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Going with the Flow

Winds flowing around Heard Island in the southwestern Indian Ocean shaped the clouds into a line of spirals.

Published May 8, 2016

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Canary Islands Kick Up Von Kármán Vortices
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Canary Islands Kick Up Von Kármán Vortices

Known as von Kármán vortices, the remarkable curling patterns can form nearly anywhere that fluid flow is disturbed by an object.

Published Jun 7, 2015

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Cloud Swirls and Ripples, Guadalupe Island
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Cloud Swirls and Ripples, Guadalupe Island

Clouds trace out atmospheric eddies and vortices near Baja, California.

Published Sep 9, 2013

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Landsat 7 Reveals Large-scale Fractal Motion of Clouds
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Landsat 7 Reveals Large-scale Fractal Motion of Clouds

Clouds off the Chilean coast show a unique pattern called a “von Karman vortex street.”

Published May 30, 2000

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Love is in the Air
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Love is in the Air

This Valentine in the sky is the visible expression of fluid dynamics at work.

Published Feb 14, 2019

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Von Kármán Vortices in the Greenland Sea
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Von Kármán Vortices in the Greenland Sea

Wind flowing past an island created this spiraling cloud pattern off the coast of Greenland.

Published Apr 13, 2012

Atmosphere Unique Imagery

Volcanoes, Clouds, and Swirling Winds
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Volcanoes, Clouds, and Swirling Winds

An image from the remote South Sandwich Islands shows how volcanic emissions can create clouds, while the islands themselves deform those clouds.

Published Jun 23, 2012

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Atmospheric Vortices near Guadalupe Island
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Atmospheric Vortices near Guadalupe Island

These Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) images from June 11, 2000 demonstrate a turbulent atmospheric flow pattern known as the von Karman vortex street.

Published Dec 7, 2000

Image of the Day Atmosphere Remote Sensing

Glory, Vortex Street off Baja California
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Glory, Vortex Street off Baja California

In this image, the swirling clouds known as vortex streets appear along the left edge of the image, stretching southward from Isla Guadalupe. Southeast of the vortex street, a glory, which resembles a rainbow, hovers above the cloud cover. The glory is faint but large, 200 to 300 kilometers long, along a north-south orientation.

Published Jun 22, 2007

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