Friday, 5 February 2016

optics - Strange reflection pattern on the water


Today I noticed the weird reflection pattern on a river on my way to school. As can be seen from the picture, the surface seems rough somewhere and smooth somewhere else. My question is: What causes this amazing phenomenon?


enter image description here


enter image description here


Some extra information:



  1. The pattern is steady, or at least the change is so slow that cannot be detected by naked eyes.

  2. Location: East China Normal University(Minhang Campus), Shanghai, China.



Clarification:


This question is not a duplicate of that one, because:



  1. The phenomenon described in this question only appears then it's rainy, while the lake surface always "appears darker in some areas".

  2. Darken surface is only observed "at the far area", and patches in my question is within 10 meters of me.

  3. The accepted answer to that question is "an interplay between the wind and the shoreline", but wind cannot produce a steady pattern.




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