Strange cloud in satellite data catches interest of scientists

[Admin]

A "peculiar" cloud over the Caspian Sea offers an interesting case study of how satellites can detect such phenomena in Earth's atmosphere.

Strange cloud in satellite data catches interest of scientists : Read more

 

[Catastrophe]

A "peculiar" cloud, as NASA terms it, was found over the Caspian Sea on May 28. The cloud offers an interesting case study of how satellites can detect such phenomena in Earth's atmosphere.
Scientists used NASA's Terra satellite to watch the cloud as it moved towards land and then dissipated in order to learn more about how small stratocumulus features like this one form.

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Cat

 

[Unclear Engineer]

"Sharp edges are often formed when dry, warm air coming from land collides with colder moist air over the ocean, and the cloud forms at that boundary,"

But, typically, the cold, wet air from the water gets pulled to the sun-heated land, not the hot air from the land going out over the water - at least not during daylight hours much past sunrise. So, why would this type of cloud form in this location - out in the middle of the Sea with no clouds over land?

Does this suggest some sort of heat source in the middle of the Caspian Sea? But, wouldn't that create billowing cumulus clouds rather than stratocumulus?