Contrail Shadows from Space

There's a blanket of low, moist cloud over much of England at the moment. Most aircraft are flying well above this cloud and this morning's satellite sequence clearly shows their contrails casting shadows on the cloud blanket below. Notice how the shadows move as the persistent contrails producing them drift eastwards in the upper wind.

Thought it might interest some folk





(Satellite sequence from Sat24.com)

[edit on 28-8-2008 by Essan]

im not seeing these shadows you speak of. all i see are ridges in the clouds. those ridges are normal with any sort of wind disturbance such as land masses. that's why they are all pretty much above england. otherwise it's part of the graphic to show the topography of your island.

The shadows are over Southern England, specifically around Somerset and Wiltshire. They appear as dark lines on the stratiform cloud covering that part of England.

I see them Essan, to the southern part of england. Looks like the sun is casting their shadow onto the altocumulus layer below....good find

Originally posted by Essan
The shadows are over Southern England, specifically around Somerset and Wiltshire. They appear as dark lines on the stratiform cloud covering that part of England.

i see them now, thanks

I see them....quite interesting.

On another note....do you ever see the sun over there? That's a lot of cloud

Contrail shadows. No big deal.

Incredible number of wave clouds. Very cool

[edit on 2-9-2008 by Phage]

Ah, took me a moment to spot them. Look like scratches on a photo.
Sorry for the one liner.


[edit on 2-9-2008 by RuneSpider]

reply to post by Essan


Hi,
I live in Portsmouth in the UK.Which is right above the little island(the isle of wight)that you can see towards the middle of the south of England.
I can confirm that it has been weeks,months even now since we have seen a blue sky for any significant amount of time.
There is constant grey sky and heavy winds all the time.
Also a lot of rain which maybe is not so unusual for here.
Why this is so I really dont know,but it is just not right for the time of year.
So maybe there is something to the contrail theory?
Is it known for producing a lot of extra cloud cover?