Cloud Formation
Clouds are made out of condensed water vapor, which can eventually become ice crystals. Each molecule of water vapor needs to cling onto something, which are known as nuclei. A free nuclei, which allows the water vapor to cling onto it, are things such as pollen, dust, exhaust, and matter in the atmosphere. Nuclei allow the water droplets to bond together and create clouds.
There are three basic ways clouds can be formed: Through evaporation, transpiration, and adiabatic cooling. Evaporation happens when water heats at the earth's surface (at the ocean for example), causing it to expand and float upwards, where it will eventually cool. This is an example of an internal energy changing pressure through the cloud's heating process. Transpiration is another possible way to create clouds. Much like evaporation, transpiration is the water vapor that is released from plants. This floats up into the air just like evaporation, to create clouds. Adiabatic Cooling in the atmosphere, occurs when a mass of air is forced upwards by an external force (like a mountain),causing it to lose its pressure, and allowing to expand (while the temperature drops). The pressure change that occurs from this external force, causes the water vapor's volume to expand, cool, and condense. This is different that evaporation because the water vapor never needs to reach certain temperature (through an internal force) to evaporate, but instead it expands on its own due to pressure change (through an external force). Not only does the earth's terrain affect adiabatic cooling, lee waves affect it as well. A lee wave is like a large ripple in a mass of air, which forces the air upwards like a mountain. Now that we know how clouds are formed, lets discuss how to identify different types of clouds!
There are three basic ways clouds can be formed: Through evaporation, transpiration, and adiabatic cooling. Evaporation happens when water heats at the earth's surface (at the ocean for example), causing it to expand and float upwards, where it will eventually cool. This is an example of an internal energy changing pressure through the cloud's heating process. Transpiration is another possible way to create clouds. Much like evaporation, transpiration is the water vapor that is released from plants. This floats up into the air just like evaporation, to create clouds. Adiabatic Cooling in the atmosphere, occurs when a mass of air is forced upwards by an external force (like a mountain),causing it to lose its pressure, and allowing to expand (while the temperature drops). The pressure change that occurs from this external force, causes the water vapor's volume to expand, cool, and condense. This is different that evaporation because the water vapor never needs to reach certain temperature (through an internal force) to evaporate, but instead it expands on its own due to pressure change (through an external force). Not only does the earth's terrain affect adiabatic cooling, lee waves affect it as well. A lee wave is like a large ripple in a mass of air, which forces the air upwards like a mountain. Now that we know how clouds are formed, lets discuss how to identify different types of clouds!
Identification
There are many different types of clouds in the sky that are constantly changing. No two clouds will ever be the same, and yet clouds are so commonly perceived as looking the same. Clouds help predict weather, but this is impossible if one cannot identify which types of clouds are heading their way. Clouds can be identified in different ways: Through appearance, altitude, precipitation, formation, and less commonly, location. There are 9 major cloud classifications which use their own name to describe them. From the below names we can see that some words like "alto", refer to the altitude of the clouds, compared to "cirrus" which refers to the shape of the cloud.
Stratus = strewn, expand
Cumulus = heap
Cirrus = a curl
Nimbus (which is often mixed with another cloud) = clouds, aureole, halo
Cumulonimbus = heap of halo clouds
Stratocumulus = expanding heap
Altocumulus = a high heap
Altostratus = high expanding
Nimbostratus = Expanding halo clouds
Cirrocumulus = a heap of curls
Cirrostratus = expanding curls
Stratus = strewn, expand
Cumulus = heap
Cirrus = a curl
Nimbus (which is often mixed with another cloud) = clouds, aureole, halo
Cumulonimbus = heap of halo clouds
Stratocumulus = expanding heap
Altocumulus = a high heap
Altostratus = high expanding
Nimbostratus = Expanding halo clouds
Cirrocumulus = a heap of curls
Cirrostratus = expanding curls
Low Clouds:
From 0-6,500 ft
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Middle Clouds:
From 6,500-23.000 ft
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High Clouds:
From 16,500-45,000 ft
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