# Weird geometric lines on the current noaa satellite loop off the coast of Oregon and California. I read on the internet they are ship contrails. Satellite Loop if you want to watch it **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717 "2022-02-18T03:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/1 "2022-02-18T03:14:40Z")
[https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector\_band.php?sat=G17§or=np&band=GEOCOLOR&length=120&dim=1](https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector_band.php?sat=G17§or=np&band=GEOCOLOR&length=120&dim=1) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/2 "2022-02-18T03:23:45Z")
That’s interesting. Boat wakes? They look very straight, paralleling the lines of latitude ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/3 "2022-02-18T03:30:53Z")
Can you say exactly where in the loop what you’re talking about appears? I see latitude lines appear and disappear, which must be a setting that changed. They clearly are not caused by boats because they are parallel and also go across land. So I’m wondering if that’s it, or if it’s something I’m missing. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/4 "2022-02-18T03:37:50Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > Can you say exactly where in the loop what you’re talking about appears? The lower-right corner, off the California coast. This satellite loop updates fairly often. If you go to the site, you can increase the time span. [Try this](https://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes/sector_band.php?sat=G17§or=np&band=GEOCOLOR&length=240&dim=1) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/5 "2022-02-18T03:44:10Z")
Damn those fucking lines. Damn them to Hell! (Wait—was this _supposed_ to be in the pit?) ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/6 "2022-02-18T03:50:55Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Boat wakes? They look very straight, paralleling the lines of latitude Not boat wakes. The condensation from the ship’s engines. Not sure what you mean by paralleling lines of latitude. But it doesn’t make sense to me that ship contrails would show up on this satellite loop. You can’t see jet contrails. It would not surprise me if someone is trying to make it rain in California. I hope that doesn’t have bad side effects… ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/7 "2022-02-18T03:52:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (Wait—was this _supposed_ to be in the pit?) Not sure…I haven’t ventured much here. But I don’t want to be know as a conspiracy guy. That’s why I came here. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/8 "2022-02-18T07:36:29Z")
A time stamp would be good, or a screenshot. All I’m seeing are a flash of latitude lines or similar. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/9 "2022-02-18T10:05:42Z")
OK, I clicked the link. Like a sucker. Am I on Candid Camera? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/10 "2022-02-18T10:32:52Z")
Yes!! ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/11 "2022-02-18T10:34:28Z")
Curiously I can’t see anything in the links posted by the OP, but ship condensation trails do exist, and look like this. They are just caused by the water vapour and particulates from the smokestacks. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/ShipTracks.jpg/640px-ShipTracks.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/ShipTracks.jpg/640px-ShipTracks.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/12 "2022-02-18T10:59:28Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > You can’t see jet contrails. I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken here. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/13 "2022-02-18T11:11:25Z")
I think you’ll find they’re isobars. I’ve seen them on the weather forecast. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/14 "2022-02-18T11:23:00Z")
Screenshot it and put up a link with what you are talking about circled. I don’t know what you mean for sure but if you mean what I think you mean, I have trouble believing you are serious. But maybe I’m not looking at the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/15 "2022-02-18T11:33:26Z")
Are you talking about this bit? [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uju00e2k3gvup0t/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-19%20at%2000.29.26.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uju00e2k3gvup0t/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-19%20at%2000.29.26.png?dl=0) [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3y6g0u40rmfvr5t/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-19%20at%2000.30.29.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/3y6g0u40rmfvr5t/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-19%20at%2000.30.29.png?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/16 "2022-02-18T11:39:32Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > But it doesn’t make sense to me that ship contrails would show up on this satellite loop. You can’t see jet contrails. I’m not sure if you mean that jet contrails don’t show in general or in this specific satellite loop. If it’s the former, yes they do: [![](https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/4000/4435/contrails_southeast.jpg) ](https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/4000/4435/contrails_southeast.jpg) If it’s the latter, ships tend to sail at a much lower altitude than jets and so the atmospheric conditions are different and may be conducive to producing contrails for one but not the other. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/17 "2022-02-18T13:56:15Z")
If you go to [windy.com](http://windy.com) you can see pretty much every atmospheric and oceanographic condition anyhwere in the world in real time. The waves off the west coast are mainly in parallel lines at a 90 deg angle to the coast in the area where Richard\_Pearse zoomed in. I bet the wave crests and troughs would create those light and dark stripes. ---
**Author:** ![tricoteuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tricoteuse/32/4334_2.png) [@tricoteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tricoteuse)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/18 "2022-02-18T14:25:10Z")
never mind! ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/19 "2022-02-18T15:29:44Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > If it’s the latter, ships tend to sail at a much lower altitude than jets and so the atmospheric conditions are different and may be conducive to producing contrails for one but not the other. Gas turbine engines run pretty lean, with an air/fuel ratio generally going no lower than 60:1 (a gasoline-powered car operates at about 14:1) - so, not a whole lot of water content per unit volume of exhaust gas. Even so, when operating at cruise altitude, the ambient temp there can be low enough to cause that moisture to condense, producing an aircraft contrail. > **[Contrail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrail)** > > Contrails (/ˈkɒntreɪlz/; short for "condensation trails") or vapor trails are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several miles above the Earth's surface. They are composed primarily of water, in the form of ice crystals. The combination of water vapor in aircraft engine exhaust and the low ambient temperatures at high altitudes causes the trails' formation. Impurities in the engine exhaust from the fuel, in... Diesel engines, as on a large ocean-going vessel, can operate at an air/fuel ratio as low as 20:1 at full load. It’s good hot exhaust, and with such a large volume of it, it can cohere and rise through calm air to altitudes where it cools and causes the moisture to condense into a ship track. > **[Ship tracks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_tracks)** > > Ship tracks are clouds that form around the exhaust released by ships into the still ocean air. Water molecules collect around the tiny particles (aerosols) from exhaust to form a cloud seed. More and more water accumulates on the seed until a visible cloud is formed. In the case of ship tracks, the cloud seeds are stretched over a long narrow path where the wind has blown the ship's exhaust, so the resulting clouds resemble long strings over the ocean. Ship tracks are a type of homogenitus In 19... ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717/20 "2022-02-18T16:20:13Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > But I don’t want to be know as a conspiracy guy. If you don’t want to be known as a conspiracy guy, then don’t post stupid shit like this: > [@EastUmpqua](#): > > It would not surprise me if someone is trying to make it rain in California. I hope that doesn’t have bad side effects… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-geometric-lines-on-the-current-noaa-satellite-loop-off-the-coast-of-oregon-and-california-i-read-on-the-internet-they-are-ship-contrails-satellite-loop-if-you-want-to-watch-it/959717.md?page=2)