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Swirling Clouds in the Atlantic Ocean

Image captured on Mar 12, 2025, by the MODIS instrument aboard the Terra platform.

Swirls of cloud are visible in the Atlantic Ocean near Cabo Verde in this true-color corrected reflectance image image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra platform on March 12, 2025. 

The swirling clouds are von Kármán vortices, or Karman vortex streets. These are linear chains of spiral eddies which form where fluid flow is disturbed by an object. In this case, the prevailing winds encounter the Cabo Verde islands and the disturbance of the flow propagates downstream of the island in the form of double rows of vortices, with alternating direction of rotation.

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