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    Clouds: Their Formation and Variations

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    Monique Giguere
    Clouds form when water vapor condenses around condensation nuclei like dust or salt particles in the air. Clouds are classified into three main types - stratus, cumulus, and cirrus - depending on their appearance and altitude. Stratus clouds are low, uniform sheets that often block the sun. Cumulus clouds are billowy mounds that can develop vertically into thunderstorm clouds. Cirrus clouds are the highest feathery ice crystal clouds that can signal upcoming weather changes.

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    Clouds: Their Formation and Variations

    Uploaded by

    Monique Giguere
    15 views13 pages
    Clouds form when water vapor condenses around condensation nuclei like dust or salt particles in the air. Clouds are classified into three main types - stratus, cumulus, and cirrus - depending on their appearance and altitude. Stratus clouds are low, uniform sheets that often block the sun. Cumulus clouds are billowy mounds that can develop vertically into thunderstorm clouds. Cirrus clouds are the highest feathery ice crystal clouds that can signal upcoming weather changes.

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    Clouds Power Point

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    Clouds form when water vapor condenses around condensation nuclei like dust or salt particles in the air. Clouds are classified into three main types - stratus, cumulus, and cirrus - depending on their appearance and altitude. Stratus clouds are low, uniform sheets that often block the sun. Cumulus clouds are billowy mounds that can develop vertically into thunderstorm clouds. Cirrus clouds are the highest feathery ice crystal clouds that can signal upcoming weather changes.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    15 views13 pages

    Clouds: Their Formation and Variations

    Uploaded by

    Monique Giguere
    Clouds form when water vapor condenses around condensation nuclei like dust or salt particles in the air. Clouds are classified into three main types - stratus, cumulus, and cirrus - depending on their appearance and altitude. Stratus clouds are low, uniform sheets that often block the sun. Cumulus clouds are billowy mounds that can develop vertically into thunderstorm clouds. Cirrus clouds are the highest feathery ice crystal clouds that can signal upcoming weather changes.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 13

    CLOUDS

    Their formation and variations


    What are clouds?
     Collections of small water droplets or ice
    crystals that fall slowly through the air

     Ice crystals and water droplets form when


    condensation or sublimation occurs more rapidly
    than evaporation does
    Cloud Formation
     Water vapor needs a solid surface to condense
    on to form a cloud

     The troposphere is full of ice, salt, and dust


    particles that are so small that they stay
    suspended in the atmoshpere

     These particles are


    called condensation
    nuclei
    Evaporation vs. Condensation
     Steps of cloud formation
    1. Rate of evaporation must be equal to rate of
    condensation
    • When this occurs the air is “saturated” with water
    vapor

    2. Air temperature drops. This causes condensation to


    occur faster than evaporation

    3. Clouds form as a result of net condensation


    What causes air to cool?
     Four processes can cause air cooling:
     Adiabatic cooling

     Mixing

     Lifting

     Advective cooling
    Adiabatic Cooling
     The process by which the temperature of an air
    mass decreases as the air mass rises and expands

     Air mass rises → atmospheric pressure decreases


    → molecules in air move farther apart → results
    in less collisions between molecules → decreases
    temperature of air mass
    Mixing
     Occurs when two bodies of moist air with
    different temperatures mix

     Cloud formation may occur if the two


    combined air masses cool enough
    Lifting
     Occurs when air is forced upward, which
    results in cooling

     Example: Mountains
    Advective Cooling
     The process by which the temperature of an air
    mass decreases as the air moves over a cold
    surface

     Example: ocean or land

     If the surface is colder than the air mass, the


    surface will absorb heat from the air mass and
    the air mass will cool
    Cloud Classification
     There are three main types of clouds:
    Stratus Cumulus

    Cirrus
    Stratus Clouds
     Means sheet-like or layered
     Have a flat, uniform base and begin to form at
    very low altitudes
     Cover large areas of the sky and often block out
    the sun
     Variations:
     Nimbostratus: are dark and can cause heavy
    precipitation

     Altostratus: form at middle altitudes, are thinner


    than normal stratus clouds
    Cumulus Clouds
     Means piled or heaped
     Low altitude, billowy clouds that commonly
    have a top that looks like cottons balls and a
    flat, dark bottom
     Variations:
     Cumulonimbus: tall, dark cumulus clouds that can
    extend very high in the atmosphere, can have an
    anvil shaped top, produce thunderstorms
     Altocumulus: base begins at middle altitudes
     Stratocumulus: low clouds, combination of cumulus
    and stratus clouds
    Cirrus Clouds
     Means curly
     Feathery clouds that are composed of ice
    crystals
     Form in the highest altitudes (above 6,000m)
     Variations:
     Cirrocumulus: rare, high-altitude, billowy,
    composed entirely of ice crystals, indicate possible
    snow or rainfall

     Cirrostratus: long and thin, form a transparent veil in


    sky

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