NASA Satellite Images Show Unusual Cloud Phenomenon Over Russia’s East Coast
NASA satellite images received at the end of last year showed unusual phenomenon in the sky above the east coast of Russia. This coincided with the “abnormally low” drop in temperature, the agency reports on its website.
The pictures were taken by the Modis (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) device installed on the Terra NASA satellite. In the photographs taken east of the island of Sakhalin, the largest island of Russia, which separates the Sea of Okhotsk in the east of the Japanese Sea in the southwest, unusual parallel lines in the clouds are visible.
Terra satellite, the size of a school bus and launched in 1999, studies the climate of the Earth, analyzing the connection between the atmosphere and various natural objects, including land and sea. Equipped with five tools capable of measuring various characteristics of the Earth, Terra collects data that help scientists evaluate the effects of human activity on our planet, as well as the influence of natural disasters on settlements and ecosystems.
On December 28, 2023, the Modis device on Terra’s satellite discovered an unusual formation of parallel lines of heap clouds over the Sea of Okhotsk. These unusual cloud structures, known for atmospheric scientists, are the so-called “cloud streets.” They are formed in the troposphere when cold dry air masses come out above the warm coastal waters, where they begin to absorb moisture rising from the sea. The result of the condensation of water vapor is the formation of clouds, while the colder areas of the surrounding air are omitted.
The atmosphere over the east coast of Russia is ideal for the formation of such structures that usually appear in the same direction as the dominant wind. Above the Okhotsk Sea, especially the cold northwest winds emanating from Siberia, lead to the formation of ice and clouds, where the temperature on the island of Sakhalin at this time of the year often drops to -6 degrees for Fahrenheit (-21 degrees Celsius).
In the photographs available on the NASA page Earth Observatory, clouds with a bright overflow, formed in the Arctic str