Cloud Iridescence over Lake Constance
Taken by Thomas Stadlbauer on January 10, 2015 @
At the shores of Lake Constance close to the city / island of Lindau in the most southwestern part of Bavaria close to the border of Austria.
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Camera Used: SAMSUNG GT-I9505
Exposure Time: 1/1888
Aperture: f/2.2
ISO: 50
Date Taken: 2015:01:16 10:27:44
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Details:
Last Saturday, Jan. 10th, 2015 a rare cloud phenomenon could be seen over Lake Constance after the first storm "Elon" of the year has hit Europe in last week. It was the calm day after the passing of the storm and the skies have cleared.
Some different cloud formations in different altitudes were present. Most striking was the occurence of cloud iridescence. The colors of those clouds were similar to those seen in oil films on puddles. This is a rather uncommon phenomenon. We were lucky to have different clouds in the aftermath of the storm. The colors are similar to the effect of nacre. Iridescence is generally produced close to the brighter areas of the sun glare. The Iridescent clouds are a diffraction phenomenon similar to the rain bow. I.e. small water droplets or small ice crystals are individually scattering the brigth sunlight. Larger ice crystals would rather produce halos.
As seen in the images the cloud are optically thin, so that most rays are scattered only by one single droplet. Most likely Iridescence can be observed from cloud edges or like in this bright phenomenon over Lake Constance in semi-transparent clouds which have been newly forming by high winds at larger altitudes.
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