From Earth, clouds sometimes take on interesting shapes. From space, an expanded view can reveal utterly remarkable patterns. This true-color picture was made Tuesday NASA’s Aqua satellite.

The clouds are disrupted into wake patterns by the volcanic peaks of the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic. The islands’ peaks range in elevation between 1,807 feet (551 meters) to 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) above the ocean surface.

Most of this scene is dominated by a large formation of low-level stratiform clouds that appears to be flowing in a southeasterly direction (from upper left to lower right), NASA scientists explained. The wake patterns extending due eastward suggest the air mass is moving to the east. But it is possible that there are two air masses moving in slightly different directions -- a lower wind pattern moving due east with a slightly higher wind pattern moving southeast.

The clouds in the upper right-hand corner of this scene are higher level cirrus and altocumulus. You can see where they are casting shadows on the lower level stratiform cloud deck in several places.

Notice how the size of the waves as well as the angle they form coming off the islands correlates to the height of the islands. For example, the peak on Zavodovski, the northernmost of the islands, stands at 1,807 feet (551 meters), while the peak on Visokoi, the island just south of it, is 3,295 feet (1,005 meters) tall. The taller Visokoi peak produces a more substantial wake pattern.

Also notice how the wakes produced by the islands are fanning out and forming interference patterns where they meet one another.

Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team