Turbulence in Plane Sight
Joseph Masliansky
Award: Top 100
School: evanston township high school
Teacher: daniel dubrow
Category: Natural
Photo #21104
Turbulence in Plane Sight
The sky seems calm and unmoving, but a closer look reveals the complex interaction between jet exhaust, wind speed, and temperature. The defined contrails of jet fuel that can be seen across the sky form when hot exhaust composed of CO2 and water vapor cools down rapidly due to the low temperature of the air at high altitudes. This results in the ice crystals that make contrails visible. Many of these contrails do not remain straight, however, as wind shear distorts them.
Wind shear is the difference between the speeds and directions of winds at different layers in the atmosphere. This often causes turbulence, a swirling and unpredictable type of airflow. When this turbulent airflow engages with straight contrails, which are structured lines of ice particles, they become stretched and mixed. These atmospheric conditions also contribute to the wispiness seen in the cirrus clouds in the photo, which are formed from ice crystals. These cirrus clouds largely reflect the patterns of the wind.
Ultimately, the interaction between structured contrails and wind shear at high altitudes allows us to observe turbulence in plain sight.
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