SkyPix

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Icelandic Dust Devil

2020-03-27 By Roger Edwards

Yes, dust devils can happen in moist, cool Iceland!  A large field of black, alluvial, volcanic sand, heated several hours under summer sunshine, can generate enough shallow instability to spin up dust devils–even in air that feels chilly to the touch.  [Mars has these too.  Its atmosphere is over 100 times thinner than Earth’s at the surface, and rivals Antarctica for coldness, but its gets dust devils too.  Even such thin gas can blow dust around when the surface can warm up in sunshine enough.]  The dry convection that generates dust devils is about the change in temperature with height, more than the temperature itself.  So is the shallow, moist convection of “steam devils” over water.

18 ENE Vik, Iceland (17 Aug 14) Looking W
63.501, -18.1078

 

Filed Under: Mini Cloud Atlas Tagged With: convection, dust, dust devils, Europe, geology, Iceland, landscapes, mountains, weather

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About

Welcome to SkyPix, an online photo book of clouds, weather and water by Roger Edwards. As in a printed coffee-table book, every image has its own page with a unique story. After all, meaningful photography is much more than just picture-taking; it is visually rendering a moment in place and time from a perspective like none other. As a scientist and an artist, I hope my deep passion for the power and splendor of our skies and waters shines through in these pages. If you are a cloud and weather aficionado, outdoor enthusiast, outdoor or nature photographer, art lover, or anyone who craves learning, enjoy...

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Further images from this photographer may be found at:
Roger Edwards Image of the Week
Roger Edwards Digital Galleries
Storms Observed Chase BLOG

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