Salvage Bay Cloud Observations

September 13, 2007

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Provided by: Patrick King
Summary authors & editors: Patrick King

On the photo above, clouds are reflected by the serene waters of Salvage Bay in eastern Newfoundland, Canada. The apparent vertical extent of the reflections of the background clouds is a matter of the way small sources are reflected in gently rippled water - they're extended in the vertical plane, sometimes with horizontal discontinuities. At first it seemed that mirages may be responsible for this phenomenon, but the angle below the horizon is too large to support mirages. On this early summer's day of June 4, 2007, the air temperature was about 17 C (62 F), nevertheless small icebergs floated on the other side of the bay.

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