<p>Given the weather patterns, it looks like Google Earth is generating those cloud overlays from some recent (i.e., the current day) satellite images.  That line is suspiciously close to the edge of disc line for Meteosat 8, which is located over the equator at 41.5 °E.  <strong>I suspect that it's just an artefact of how they're stitching together the various images from geostationary satellites</strong>.  The satellite zenith angle and data uncertainty get very large towards the edge of the disc, so most products for forecasting and research are clipped to exclude that region.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ga9id.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ga9id.png" alt="enter image description here"></a>
Image from EUMETSAT: <a href="https://eumetview.eumetsat.int/mapviewer/?product=EO:EUM:DAT:MSG:CLM-IODC" rel="noreferrer">https://eumetview.eumetsat.int/mapviewer/?product=EO:EUM:DAT:MSG:CLM-IODC</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-17T16:34:34.960Z
2020-02-17T16:34:34.960Z
Deditos
<p>I came across a narrow streak of clouds in Asia when playing with Google Earth.
Does anyone know what that is?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1Dxuz.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1Dxuz.jpg" alt="The clouds"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-17T14:33:51.420Z
I suspect it's an artefact of some kind.
gerrit
<clouds><earth-observation><satellites><satellite-oddities>
What is this narrow band of clouds?
Code42
# What is this narrow band of clouds?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-02-17)

I came across a narrow streak of clouds in Asia when playing with Google Earth.
Does anyone know what that is?

[![The clouds](https://i.sstatic.net/1Dxuz.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/1Dxuz.jpg)

**Tags:** clouds, earth-observation, satellites, satellite-oddities

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I suspect it's an artefact of some kind.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-17. Score: 12 | Accepted answer

Given the weather patterns, it looks like Google Earth is generating those cloud overlays from some recent (i.e., the current day) satellite images. That line is suspiciously close to the edge of disc line for Meteosat 8, which is located over the equator at 41.5 °E. **I suspect that it's just an artefact of how they're stitching together the various images from geostationary satellites**. The satellite zenith angle and data uncertainty get very large towards the edge of the disc, so most products for forecasting and research are clipped to exclude that region.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ga9id.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/ga9id.png)
Image from EUMETSAT: <https://eumetview.eumetsat.int/mapviewer/?product=EO:EUM:DAT:MSG:CLM-IODC>


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