Wavewatcher’s Abstracts

[Howard Brown]

I was sent a Buxin landscape card then found
http://buxin.com/portfolio.php?galerie=Vues sur Mer

[ N.B. the link typed above does not appear all red on the forum hence does not work. Try buxin.com, select Portfolio then Vues sur Mer. ]

These Vues struck me as similar to the cloud abstracts in the Black & White threads. Any companion Vues for this thread?

[Hans Stocker]

Indeed Hygge, the similarity of these Vues Sur Mer with some cloud abstracts in B&W are striking. Water, vapour, waves, they have a lot of physical processes and appearances in common. Thanks for sharing this link.

[Patricia L Keelin]

Thanks, Hygge!  Similar indeed – and much appreciated. Is there an aquatic descriptive for the type of lacunosus quality depicted in several of Buxin’s Vues sur Mer images? While I don’t have many cloud photos that capture that particular look, here’s one I think comes closest.

There’s also the CAS forum topic “Wave Clouds”, which Michael Lerch launched in October 2016. It is also devoted to B&W images. It’s slipped onto page two at the moment, but like the tide, I have a feeling it will be back.

 

[Gavin Pretor-Pinney]

Here is the link that you needed to include for the wave images:
http://buxin.com/portfolio.php?galerie=Vues%20sur%20Mer

These patterns of sea foam do, in some instances, look remarkably like lacunosus clouds. Of course, the reason the foam from waves looks white is the same reason clouds look white. The countless tiny bubbles of water scatter the sunlight in all directions, just as airborne droplets and ice crystals do. The random scattering of light like this appears to us as white, with a the degree of opacity depending on how much scattering is happening.

In the case of lacunosus clouds, I understand that the network of cloud holes, which can look like a honeycomb, results from convection cells forming beneath an inversion. This leads to pockets of sinking air, which is where the holes appear, with rising air between, which results in the fringes of cloud. It is a pattern that emerges from the laws of physics in certain atmospheric conditions. No doubt, there is some equivalent explanation for why the sea-foam bubbles on the turbulent surface of ocean waves results in a similar, if far more fleeting, pattern of a fringes and holes. I guess it is likely to be more to do with water bubbles than the waves themselves.

[Hans Stocker]

Thank you for this explanation Gavin.

I can’t resist the temptation to support the story with this picture of lacunosus in black and white.

[Patricia L Keelin]

Thank you, Gavin! The better the understanding, the deeper the appreciation for all the wonderment above.

And Hans, beautiful lacy lacunosus you’ve captured there!

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