EPOW Ecology Picture of the Week -- Daylight Sky on Fire!

Explanation: The sky is on fire! Mouse over this week's photo to see a color-enhanced version of this unusual atmospheric phenomenon. What is happening here?

This is wonderful example of altocumulus clouds diffracting sunlight into its component spectral frequencies (rainbow colors, in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum), forming a cloud corona.

The clouds themselves are unusual, in that they are wave clouds, which sometimes form from stable air flowing over a mountain range. But we are in the heart of the pancake-flat Masai Mara grassland ecosystem of southern Kenya, which adjoins the even more vast Serengeti National Park of Tanzania to the south. These wave clouds likely formed differently, from minor atmospheric disturbance on a stable cloud layer.

Here is another photo of this spectacular phenomenon, followed by its color- and contrast-enhanced version (click to view larger versions). The sun is hidden behind the tree foliage. How many color rings can you see?

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Quiz Question: So what does this week's image and explanation have to do with "ecology?"
Answer: "Ecology" is the study not just of life forms (that's "biology") but also their environment. An "ecosystem" is defined as all life forms, and their interactions, and also the entire non-living ("abiotic") world.
As a science, then, ecology demands understanding not just biology but also something about geology, geomorphology, meteorology, climatology, pedology (soil science), and many other abiotic aspects of ecosystems.
If you learn how to read the clouds, it will tell you about wind patterns aloft, stability of the atmosphere, and impending weather ... all of which could influence animals in flight, dispersal of wind-blown seeds and other propagules, and perhaps some of the signals that terrestrial and airborne animals use to disperse or migrate.
Now you know.

EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week