File:Atmospheric Gravity Waves Imagery (SVS14445 - 14445 AGW GulfOfSidra).jpg

English: When NASA’s Aqua satellite passed over the Gulf of Sidra on July 9, 2023, it was positioned such that sunlight reflected off the ocean at the same angle that the satellite’s sensor viewed it. The result was an optical phenomenon that gave ocean surfaces a bright gleam known as sunglint.On the edge of the sunglint region, the sensor also observed long curved bands of alternating light and dark stripes caused by atmospheric gravity waves. Such waves form when stratified air layers are disturbed by topography, or when different air masses interact.Caption by Adam Voiland. Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.