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Cloud: Cumulus Swifts Creek

Clouds are visible masses of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the Earth's atmosphere above the surface. Clouds form when air rises and becomes saturated, either through cooling or adding water vapor. Clouds come in different types depending on their height and appearance, such as cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds. Cloud types are categorized using Latin names according to their physical characteristics and the system developed by Luke Howard in 1802.

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Sarvesh Jaiswal
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73 views

Cloud: Cumulus Swifts Creek

Clouds are visible masses of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the Earth's atmosphere above the surface. Clouds form when air rises and becomes saturated, either through cooling or adding water vapor. Clouds come in different types depending on their height and appearance, such as cumulus, stratus, and cirrus clouds. Cloud types are categorized using Latin names according to their physical characteristics and the system developed by Luke Howard in 1802.

Uploaded by

Sarvesh Jaiswal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Cloud

Cumulus cloudscape over Swifts Creek,


Australia
A cloud is a visible mass of water droplets
or frozen ice crystals suspended in the
Earth's atmosphere above the surface of the
Earth or other planetary body. Clouds in the
Earth's atmosphere are studied in the
nephology or cloud physics branch of
meteorology. Two processes, possibly acting
together, can lead to air becoming saturated:
cooling the air or adding water vapor to the
air. Generally, precipitation will fall to the
surface; an exception is virga which
evaporates before reaching the surface.
Clouds can show convective development

like cumulus, be in the form of layered


sheets such as stratus, or appear in thin
fibrous wisps as with cirrus. Prefixes are
used in connection with clouds: strato for
low cumulus-category clouds that show
some stratiform characteristics, nimbo for
low to middle stratiform clouds that can
produce moderate to heavy precipitation,
alto for middle clouds, and cirro for high
clouds. Whether or not a cloud is low,
middle, or high level depends on how far
above the ground its base forms. Some cloud
types, especially those with significant
vertical extent, can form in the low or
middle ranges depending on the moisture
content of the air. Clouds have Latin names
due to the popular adaptation of Luke
Howard's cloud categorization system,
which began to spread in popularity during
December 1802. Synoptic surface weather
observations use code numbers for the types

of tropospheric cloud visible at each


scheduled observation time based on the
height and physical appearance of the
clouds. While a majority of clouds form in
the Earth's troposphere, there are occasions
where clouds in the stratosphere and
mesosphere are observed. Clouds have been
observed on other planets and moons within
the Solar System, but due to their different
temperature characteristics, they are
composed of other substances such as
methane, ammonia, or sulfuric acid.

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