Image of the week: intriguing cloud patterns near the Cape Verde islands

Watching our Earth from space

This week’s image of the week focuses on wave-like cloud swirls southwest of the Cape Verde islands.

Last Updated

07 May 2024

Published on

29 April 2024

The cloud patterns are known as von Kármán vortices and are formed over the ocean when islands disrupt the wind flow. The strength of the wind affects the patterns of the swirls.

Von Kármán vortices are named after Theodore von Kármán, the pioneering Hungarian-American physicist and aeronautical engineer.

Von Kármán vortices

This image was captured by the OLCI instrument onboard Copernicus Sentinel-3 on 1 May 2024.

EUMETSAT operates the Sentinel-3 satellites, in cooperation with ESA, and delivers the marine data on behalf of the European Union.

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Visualise Sentinel-3 data with EUMETview or WEKEO

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The science behind von Kármán vortices

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