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Hyperveloce
23rd Mar 2013, 21:25
Are pilots flying routinely over mountainous area scattered with high altitude glaciers, at moderate flight levels (around 9000 ft), subject to occasional blinding (or have their plane lit up) by strong specular sunlight reflections originating from high altitude glaciers during sunny and clear sky flights ?
And in the affirmative, is it a frequently occuring phenomenon ?

Hotel Charlie
23rd Mar 2013, 23:44
Nope! More like flying over a cloud layer :ok:

Hyperveloce
24th Mar 2013, 14:02
Thanks Hotel Charly.
It would suggest that glaciers do not produce specular reflections of the sunlight and strong sun glints (like calm water surfaces, even when the geometry of reflection would allow it) but rather behave like snowy areas and like diffuse reflectors (more liable to produce flat light conditions) ?

Hyperveloce
24th Mar 2013, 16:41
Maybe in summer, when the seasonal snow melts in the ablation zone of the glaciers, freeing bare ice areas more liable to produce specular sun glint with the ad-hoc geometry ?