March - cumulus You are here: Home Photo gallery Atmospheric optics Atmospheric refraction Scintillation


On hot sunny days, the atmosphere may seem as if it is boiling, especially over very hot surfaces like roads and roofs of buildings. This boiling is called shimmering and is caused by the turbulent hot air with different densities and hence different refractive indices. The difference in refractive indices makes the air bubbles act as lenses, slightly deviating the transmitted light.

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