Worldview 4





In this shot of the southwest Pacific Ocean are three vortices. To the upper left is Tropical Storm Tim, which was never able to intensify much due to heavy shear, which is evident by the exposed center. The storm towards the bottom is the extratropical remnants of Cyclone Sandra, which had previously been a strong tropical cyclone, topping out at category four for a short time. The spiral on the right is nothing spectacular; it was never even labeled as an Invest area.

 

These images of far eastern Russia capture a plume of ash from an erupting volcano, which is towards the left. This region is very volcanically active, so a shot like this is not all that rare. The top image is the standard true color visible type, but the lower one is made using a different set of light bands that are sensitive to the hot plume, thereby highlighting it. A similar technique is used to spot wildfires.

 

 



Here is another set of particularly robust von Karman Waves. Notice the snow covering the top of the mountain in the upper part of the image.
 



This sharply defined stripe of snow cover in the U.S. Midwest is rather distinct. It was likely caused by a stationary, or nearly stationary, front that parked itself over the region an dumped a lot of snow in a small area.



Wind and water currents can shape the pattern of sea ice, as seen here in the northern Pacific. This image happens to include the same region, but on a different day, as the volcano shot above.
 



This small circulation in the Southeast Indian Ocean was never considered to have the potential to become a full tropical cyclone, despite how well organized it seems.
 

 



These three images show the development of a powerful Nor'easter in early February. Each image is about one day apart, beginning on the 8th. In the first shot, two separate low pressure systems are readily visible: one is centered over Lake Eerie and the other is centered just off the coast of North Carolina. As the storm developed these two lows merged and intensified. Note that these images are not to the same scale, by comparing the storm to the East coast, it is clear that it grew significantly.