Cloud
A cloud field is simply a group of clouds but sometimes cloud fields can take on certain shapes that have their own characteristics and are specially classified. Stratocumulus clouds can often be found in the following forms:
- Open cell, which resembles a honeycomb, with clouds around the edges and clear, open space in the middle.
- Closed cell, which is cloudy in the center and clear on the edges, similar to a filled honeycomb.
- Actinoform, which resembles a leaf or a spoked wheel.
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Colors
The color of a cloud tells much about what is going on inside the cloud. Clouds form when relatively warm air containing water vapor is lighter than its surrounding air and this causes it to rise. As it rises it cools and the vapor condenses out of the air as micro-droplets. These tiny particles of water are relatively densely packed and sunlight cannot penetrate far into the cloud before it is reflected out, giving a cloud its characteristic white color. As a cloud matures, the droplets may combine to produce larger droplets, which may combine to form droplets large enough to fall as rain. In this process of accumulation, the space between droplets becomes larger and larger, permitting light to penetrate much farther into the cloud. If the cloud is sufficiently large and the droplets within are spaced far enough apart, it may be that a percentage of the light which enters the cloud is not reflected back out before it is absorbed (Think of how much farther one can see in a heavy rain as opposed to how far one can see in a heavy fog). This process of reflection/absorption is what leads to the range of cloud color from white through grey through black. For the same reason, the undersides of large clouds and heavy overcasts appear various degrees of grey; little light is being reflected or transmitted back to the observer.
Other colours occur naturally in clouds. Bluish-grey is the result of light scattering within the cloud. In the visible spectrum, blue and green are at the short end of light's visible wavelengths, while red and yellow are at the long end. The short rays are more easily scattered by water droplets, and the long rays are more likely to be absorbed. The bluish color is evidence that such scattering is being produced by rain-sized droplets in the cloud.
A greenish tinge to a cloud is produced when sunlight is scattered by ice. A cumulonimbus cloud which shows green is an imminent sign of heavy rain, hail, strong winds and possible tornadoes.
Yellowish clouds are rare but may occur in the late spring through early fall months during forest fire season. The yellow color is due to the presence of smoke.
Red, orange and pink clouds occur almost entirely at sunrise/sunset and are the result of the scattering of sunlight by the atmosphere. The clouds are not that color; they are reflecting the long (and unscattered) rays of sunlight which are predominant at those hours. The effect is much the same as if one were to shine a red spotlight on a white sheet. In combination with large, mature thunderheads this can produce blood-red clouds. The evening before the Edmonton, Alberta tornado in 1987, Edmontonians observed such clouds — deep black on their dark side and intense red on their sunward side. In this case the adage "red sky at night, sailor's delight" was wrong.The cloud was white because the reflection of the sun
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It has been suggested that Cloud feedback be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) |
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Global dimming
The recently recognized phenomenon of global dimming is thought to be caused by changes to the reflectivity of clouds due to the increased presence of aerosols and other particulates in the atmosphere.
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Global brightening
New research From Dimming to Brightening: Decadal Changes in Solar Radiation at Earth's Surface by Martin Wild et al. (Science 6 May 2005; 308: 847-850) indicates global brightening trend.
Global brightening is caused by decreased amounts of particulate matter in the atmosphere. With less particulate matter there is less surface area for condensation to occur. Since there's less condensation in the atmosphere and increased evaporation caused by increasing amounts of sunlight striking the water's surface there is more moisture, causing fewer but thicker clouds.
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Clouds on other planets
Within our solar system, any planet or moon with an atmosphere also has clouds. Venus' clouds are composed entirely of sulfuric acid droplets. Mars has high, thin clouds of water ice. Both Jupiter and Saturn have an outer cloud deck composed of ammonia clouds, an intermediate deck of ammonium hydrosulfide clouds and an inner deck of water clouds. Uranus and Neptune have atmospheres dominated by methane clouds.
Saturn's moon Titan has clouds which are believed to be composed largely of droplets of liquid methane. The Cassini-Huygens Saturn mission has uncovered evidence of a fluid cycle on Titan, including lakes near the poles and fluvial channels on the surface of the moon.
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See also
- Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) (in the US)
- CLAW hypothesis
- Cloud albedo
- Cloud Appreciation Society
- Cloud base
- Cloud condensation nuclei
- Cloud feedback
- Cloud forcing
- Cloud seeding
- Cloud types
- Cloudscape art
- Cloudscape photography
- Coalescence
- Extraterrestrial skies
- Flight ceiling
- Fog
- Fractus cloud
- Iridescent Cloud
- Mammatus
- Mist
- Monsoon
- Mushroom cloud
- Orographic lift
- Precipitation
- Thunderstorm
- Tornado
- Tropical cyclone
- Weather lore
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References
- Hamblyn, Richard The Invention of Clouds — How an Amateur Meteorologist Forged the Language of the Skies Picador; Reprint edition (August 3, 2002). ISBN 0312420013
- http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/news/2006/04_14_06.htm Could Reducing Global Dimming Mean a Hotter, Dryer World?
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External links
| Find more about Cloud on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Images and media |
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Learning resources |
- Clouds-Online.com Cloud Atlas with many photos and description of the different cloud genus
- Australia Severe Weather: cloud classification system
- Chitambo Clouds – Clouds and other meteorological phenomena Photographs and info. on different types of clouds
- BadMeteorology's explanation of why clouds form
- Cloud Appreciation Society Aesthetics of clouds
- Cloud photography
- Free Pictures Clouds
- Cloud Naming Lesson
- Cloud and Weather Photography
- Clouds - when the invisible reveals itself
- Shuttle Views the Earth: Clouds from Space
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Gallery
 Mammatus clouds |
 An example of various cloud colors |
 Colourful cloud formation |
 Cloud iridescence occurring in clouds. |
 Cloud iridescence occurring in clouds. |
 Dramatic clouds over Mauna Loa |
 Altocumulus mackerel sky |
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