Contrails over the Baltic Sea (MODIS 2026-05-30)

Thin streaks of cloud crisscrossed the Baltic Sea on May 29, 2026, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image. These bright white streaks are “contrails”, more formally called “condensation trails”. They are ice clouds formed by the condensation of water vapor emitted by aircraft engine onto tiny particles (aerosols) floating in the nearby air. The aerosols may be emitted from the aircraft or may be naturally occurring. The interaction of water vapor and aerosols creates ice-filled cloud along the track of the aircraft, which means each long streak marks the passage of a single aircraft. Depending on atmospheric conditions, contrails may fade quickly or persist and spread into a wider pattern. In general, the sharper and narrower the contrail appears the more recently it was formed. In contrast, wider tracks suggest that the aircraft passed a longer time ago.

Date

May 29, 2026

Mapmaker / publisher

MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

2,164 × 1,796 pixels

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