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Dr. Amber Jenkins

Amber Jenkins is Editor of NASA's Climate Change website and project manager of the Center for Climate Sciences at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She's passionate about climate change, science and science communication.

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Climate change chronicles from NASA

The streets
Clouds around Greenland
March 07, 2012
posted by Dr. Amber Jenkins
16:00 PST
The streets
Cloud streets around southern Greenland. Image taken by NASA's MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument onboard the Aqua satellite.

This image shows impressive cloud "streets" around southern Greenland. Cloud streets are bands of cumulus clouds that form parallel to the low-level wind direction under the right conditions. They usually form within the lower one to three kilometers of the atmosphere, known as the planetary "boundary layer," and are caused by convection. They can form over land or sea. Under the right conditions, cloud streets exhibit remarkable periodic patterns. Airplanes — or space satellites — can offer especially good views.

Thanks to NASA's Earth Observatory twitter feed for the heads-up on this new image!

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