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Bright superior mirages.

Waldemar H Lehn1

  • 1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg R3T 5V6, Canada. lehn@ee.umanitoba.ca

Applied Optics
|February 7, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Unusually bright superior mirages were observed over Lake Winnipeg. These optical phenomena, appearing as bright barriers, were significantly more luminous than the surrounding ice surface.

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Area of Science:

  • Atmospheric optics
  • Optical phenomena

Background:

  • Superior mirages are rare atmospheric optical phenomena.
  • These mirages are typically observed under specific temperature inversion conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To document and analyze two instances of unusually bright superior mirages.
  • To investigate the optical characteristics and potential causes of enhanced mirage luminance.

Main Methods:

  • Photographic documentation of mirages over Lake Winnipeg.
  • Photometric measurements of mirage brightness compared to the ice surface.
  • Modeling the mirage phenomenon using conduction inversion principles.

Main Results:

  • Two cases of superior mirages with exceptional brightness were recorded.
  • Mirage luminance was measured at 2.5 and 1.7 times that of the adjacent ice surface.
  • The mirages appeared as featureless bright barriers.

Conclusions:

  • Superior mirages can exhibit significantly enhanced luminance.
  • Conduction inversions can explain the mirage formation, but not the extreme brightness.
  • Further research is needed to explain the source of the unusual mirage brightness.

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