Flat? Sure, but is it level? @heathcarmody2867

Heath Carmody | Flat? Sure, but is it level? @heathcarmody2867 | Uploaded July 2022 | Updated October 2024, 12 hours ago.
A quick look at a small paver patio with my cell phone camera, able to get low and level with the surface. Using only this short observation, can you determine the true shape of this flat surface? What about refraction?

$Flat? Sure, but is it level? A quick look at a small paver patio with my cell phone camera, able to get low and level with the surface. Using only this short observation, can you determine the true shape of this flat surface? What about refraction?$ $Another 21 Minutes (Of not Superior Mirage) A detailed real time look at an interesting part of a 6 hour observation (12km point #7). This video asks more questions than it answers, but it is just another starting point for a greater discussion about superior/inferior mirages and refraction in general. From this point I will go forward or backward in the observation depending on what I feel the need to show to illustrate the no superior mirage reasoning. This is footage from the same time frame as the hour long raw footage I released earlier here: https://youtu.be/QuMnnwtMods This is mostly from the close camera and ends where the close camera footage begins in the 1 hour video. The beginning of the 1 hour video is from the far camera. Hopefully that makes sense? I wanted to release more footage leading up to the strange mirage event that Travis took an in depth look at here: https://youtu.be/QJJDx74RxKE There are a lot of subtitles in the first half, but the second half is raw footage ready for others analysis.$

In-Ferry-Or Mirage Day 8 - Finally a Full Transition!

$Fast Slow Refraction$

$Concave Creeper (Observation #7 Refraction Effect Highlight)$

Distance Offset Optical Test #3 - All Ferry Passes

$Same Lake, Different Day - Super Fast Long Low Black Swan Time Lapse (SFLLBSTL) From observation #5, April 2nd 2020. No expectations of good visibility on this day as I planned to just tweak my camera time lapse setup, on what I thought would be an endless strong inferior mirage day. There is nothing wrong with my camera (besides being the worst of my cameras for picture quality and audio) it was in focus and not even fully zoomed. Thats just how it looks sometimes. 100% refraction. Even though black swan observations are incredibly common for me on this lake, this one was a bit unexpected due to the air temperature being much cooler than the water, (6-8°C air, 8-9°C water) and no reason (that I can see) for a strong temperature inversion over the lake. I recorded extreme concave/compressed appearance for the entire 4 hours from 3 camera heights. Whats most puzzling to me is how these sequences never even get close to anything that could be considered obstruction by a water horizon. Foreground and background seem to move in unison much of the time, despite a 7 km difference in distance. Interesting too, how strong the distortion from refraction is - on such a day with no direct sun and plenty of wind to mix the air layers. More on this observation coming soon.$ $Retro Time Lapse in 4K - 4 hours in 1 song Tired of seeing the same old blues.. This was from observation #9 (yes, 9 already) at Shelter Bay ferry. Back to my spot from the first few observations this year, where the only real points of interest are the far ferry dock and Ann point at 18.5 km (featured). This was one of my longest continuous time lapses (over 4 hours) from a high elevation, with the good 4k camera. Camera was at least 12 meters above the lake level, possibly up to 16 meters. Either way, not much would be obstructed at 18.5 km, and nothing really is - besides the beginning when inferior mirage was still strong. The lower camera footage will be more useful for analysis. Not really impressed with the views from higher up. I really do think I can see better from right near the water. Wavy full frame distortion is always much stronger on land, no matter the height. Ill expand on this in an upcoming video. Also notice the camera movement. No wind - maybe a light breeze later on but nothing considerable. Camera was 100% untouched besides changing the battery once. Camera movements dont make sense for wind. 4 hours of recording in 2 minutes shouldnt show any gradual camera movements, especially that slowly rebound. Background and target are both far enough away that they could be close to evenly displaced by refraction. Tripod was secure and camera only at about half zoom. No image stabilizer used on camera. I tried to stabilize it in the editor but there wasnt enough contrast on the far hill, so it wouldnt work right. Oh well, it is what it is.$ $The Three Phases of Refraction$ $Ghost Ship Part 2 - Full Trip Evening Ferry Tracking! Not holding my breath for 3.4 million views on my last video, even though its much scarier than the original Ghost Ship.. video on YouTube and has scary music. Ferry starts with an extreme black swan relationship with the 6.5 km land, and starts out about 11 km away, not obstructed from a camera set up at 5.5 feet. As it travels across the lake (2 km farther to the far ferry dock) it gradually becomes more and more obstructed as it sinks into the complex inferior mirage. Since we know upward refraction causes obstruction and inferior mirage increasing with distance, is there any logical reason to assume any of this obstruction is caused by Earth curve? Not in my opinion. Factors of obstruction in this scenario: 1. Rapidly cooling air dipped well below the water temperature and inferior mirage increased steadily (although in patches) throughout the evening. 2. Ferry travelled farther into the distance with upward refraction gradients eventually causing more obstruction than a globe would be responsible for. 3. Uneven lake/air temperatures. The water was likely warmer on the side of the lake that gets the most afternoon sun. This video includes some bonus raw footage using manual focus after the autofocus refused to work in low light conditions. I have so much more footage and another 3 ferry trips from 3 cameras all from this 2 hour evening observation. Plus tons of footage from the previous observation to go over eventually. So much footage. So much data. So little time. So little evidence of Earth curve, ever.$