<p>Under the right conditions (in a basic sense, locally high relative humidity; see also <a href="https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/15566/how-to-predict-when-contrails-are-likely-to-form-over-a-specific-location-using/15586#15586">this discussion on this site</a> regarding contrail formation), the clouds initially formed by contrails <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/vapor-trail" rel="nofollow noreferrer">may persist for hours and spread outwards to form larger areas of cirrus cloud</a>. Additionally, NASA's Contrail Education Project website has some specific examples <a href="https://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/contrail-edu/imagery.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> showing the evolution of contrails and associated clouds over the course of a day, with extremely similar visual properties to those shown in the question. They also provide some discussion describing how large these clouds must be compared to what a typical weather satellite "sees":</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In order to be seen, a contrail must be wide enough (and long enough) to change the brightness of a satellite pixel. Each pixel covers a portion of the Earth. The size of that area is determined by the resolution of the satellite instrument. Typical weather satellites, such as you see on the news, have pixels that might be 8 km, 4 km, or 1 km on a side. To show up in such an image, a contrail must be nearly 1 km wide! </p>
</blockquote>

<p>In other words, <strong>yes, they are contrails (or more accurately, persistent clouds originating from contrails) as observed by satellite.</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-15T02:29:52.687Z
@uhoh Makes sense, added as a reference to the mention of contrail formations - thanks!
dplmmr
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-15T03:40:27.227Z
They're both great answers, thanks!
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-14T15:44:03.697Z
2019-05-16T04:16:52.710Z
2019-05-16T04:16:52.710Z
dplmmr
<p>Here are photos from West of Normandy, at 7-9am after sunrise on the 14th of may, from <a href="https://www.meteo60.fr/satellites/visible-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the visible satellite</a>. It's a bit strange that they are visible from space, they are 2-3 miles wide? Are they jet engine trails? 
To see the original images you can rewrite the time on these hyperlinks to 8-15 etc...</p>

<p><a href="https://archives.meteo60.fr/images_sat_vis/2019/semestre1/Sat_vis_20190514-08h00.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://archives.meteo60.fr/images_sat_vis/2019/semestre1/Sat_vis_20190514-08h00.png</a> &lt;-hours
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/4ZuZz.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/4ZuZz.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/SLtr7.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/SLtr7.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/aD7pV.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/aD7pV.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-05-14T09:01:41.607Z
ok, have done so.
bandybabboon
<meteorology><clouds><air-pollution><weather-satellites>
Are these plane trails seen from satellite
bandybabboon
# Are these plane trails seen from satellite

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-14)

Here are photos from West of Normandy, at 7-9am after sunrise on the 14th of may, from [the visible satellite](https://www.meteo60.fr/satellites/visible-1). It's a bit strange that they are visible from space, they are 2-3 miles wide? Are they jet engine trails?
To see the original images you can rewrite the time on these hyperlinks to 8-15 etc...

<https://archives.meteo60.fr/images_sat_vis/2019/semestre1/Sat_vis_20190514-08h00.png> <-hours
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/4ZuZz.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/4ZuZz.jpg)
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/SLtr7.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/SLtr7.jpg)[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/aD7pV.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/aD7pV.jpg)

**Tags:** meteorology, clouds, air-pollution, weather-satellites

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: ok, have done so.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-14. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

Under the right conditions (in a basic sense, locally high relative humidity; see also [this discussion on this site](https://earthscience.stackexchange.com/questions/15566/how-to-predict-when-contrails-are-likely-to-form-over-a-specific-location-using/15586#15586) regarding contrail formation), the clouds initially formed by contrails [may persist for hours and spread outwards to form larger areas of cirrus cloud](https://www.britannica.com/science/vapor-trail). Additionally, NASA's Contrail Education Project website has some specific examples [here](https://science-edu.larc.nasa.gov/contrail-edu/imagery.html) showing the evolution of contrails and associated clouds over the course of a day, with extremely similar visual properties to those shown in the question. They also provide some discussion describing how large these clouds must be compared to what a typical weather satellite "sees":

> In order to be seen, a contrail must be wide enough (and long enough) to change the brightness of a satellite pixel. Each pixel covers a portion of the Earth. The size of that area is determined by the resolution of the satellite instrument. Typical weather satellites, such as you see on the news, have pixels that might be 8 km, 4 km, or 1 km on a side. To show up in such an image, a contrail must be nearly 1 km wide!

In other words, **yes, they are contrails (or more accurately, persistent clouds originating from contrails) as observed by satellite.**

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: @username_2 Makes sense, added as a reference to the mention of contrail formations - thanks!  
> **username_2**: They're both great answers, thanks!  

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