Novaya Zemlya effect and Fata Morgana. Raytracing in a spherically non-symmetric atmosphere

• Published in: Comptes Rendus. Physique
• Main Author: van der Werf, Siebren
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; French
• Published: Académie des sciences 2023
• Subjects: Raytracing; Simulations; Mirages; Novaya Zemlya phenomenon; Fata Morgana; Physics; QC1-999; Greenland; Greenland Sea; Novaya Zemlya
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5802/crphys.102; https://doaj.org/article/1f174132ba774ff1a39a794c8e9fbcaf

Raytracing in a non-symmetric atmosphere is discussed and illustrated by new simulations of both historical and mythical observations, such as the Novaya Zemlya phenomenon seen by the Dutch in 1597 and Nansen’s sighting of it in 1894. An alternative interpretation is given of the mythical hafstramb monster in the Greenland Sea. Recent photographic material that shows mirages of the water surface is analyzed and a simulation presented. Raytracing techniques are reviewed and it is shown that numerical integration by distance is much preferred over other choices of the integration parameter.