{"id":31078,"date":"2020-12-18T18:02:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T02:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/?p=31078"},"modified":"2020-12-18T20:17:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T04:17:21","slug":"december-18-2020-santa-barbara-island-from-lax-with-fata-morgana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stormbruiser.com\/chase\/2020\/12\/18\/december-18-2020-santa-barbara-island-from-lax-with-fata-morgana\/","title":{"rendered":"December 18, 2020 Santa Barbara Island from LAX, with Fata Morgana!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Visibility in the Los Angeles area was unlimited in most directions by sunset this day. \u00a0These images were taken from the observing platform of the control tower at Los Angeles International Airport. \u00a0The first one was a little before sunset, and the remainder were after sunset, within a period of about 30 minutes. \u00a0An optical phenomenon named “Fata Morgana” caused Santa Barbara Island to take on a variety of weird shapes and outlines. \u00a0Strong refraction of light through low-level air temperature inversions is responsible for the effects. \u00a0One typical effect is for the distant object to appear much higher, or taller, than it actually is, and for the top to look flat. \u00a0The island is next-to-impossible to see from the beach areas near LAX in “normal” conditions due to its distance and low elevation. \u00a0These shots were taken at 280mm, with considerable cropping.<\/p>\n

I managed to get a few good shots of the same effect<\/a>\u00a0upon the same island (Santa Barbara Island) a few years ago from San Nicolas Island. \u00a0Santa Barbara Island is only one square mile in size, it maxes out at 634 feet above sea level, and it is 48 miles southwest of the LAX control tower.<\/p>\n

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