ISS036-E-35665 Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.
Obstacles of any kind can set up such vortices—known technically as a Von Karman vortex street—from islands to craters to chimneys. The size of each swirl can be judged from the length of the island. Under ideal conditions, clouds make the swirls visible. However, a vortex street will only form under certain conditions of air speed, atmospheric stability, and obstacle size. Conditions are ideal for production of vortex streets in the vicinity of Guadalupe Island, which is known to produce them almost every day in June, July and August. The phenomenon is named after Theodore von Karman, a Hungarian-American engineer and fluid mechanics expert.
Also visible at image top right is a series of parallel cloud lines. Known colloquially as “gravity waves,” these are ripples at the boundary between atmospheric layers of slightly different density. The same phenomena was recently observed by astronauts onboard the International Space Station while flying over the Great Lakes.
