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2. Jet Stream Cirrus
2. Jet Stream Cirrus

This photograph taken from about 200 miles above the Earth shows the same jet stream cirrus depicted in slide #1. The contained uniformity of the cloud formation reflects the narrow track of the jet stream moving from left to right across the frame. The lower altitude of the shuttle photography shows that the cloud band illustrated by the Meteosat thermal image in fact comprises a series of distinct and precisely spaced roll clouds. These are created by a rolling motion in the upper level air current.

STS 41-C, 5 April 1984. Picture #13-32-1099.

Right click here to download a high-resolution version of the image (8.59 MB)



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