Chapter Moisture, Clouds,

and Precipitation
12
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Water’s Changes of State

 Precipitation is any form of water that falls
from a cloud.
 When it comes to understanding
atmospheric processes, water vapor is the
most important gas in the atmosphere.
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Water’s Changes of State

 Solid to Liquid
• The process of changing state, such as melting
ice, requires that energy be transferred in the form
of heat.
• Latent heat is the energy absorbed or released
during a change in state.
 Liquid to Gas
• Evaporation is the process of changing a liquid to
a gas.
• Condensation is the process where a gas, like
water vapor, changes to a liquid, like water.
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Water’s Changes of State

 Solid to Gas
• Sublimation is the conversion of a solid directly
to a gas without passing through the liquid state.
• Deposition is the conversion of a vapor directly
to a solid.
Changes of State
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Humidity
 Humidity is a general term for the amount
of water vapor in air.
 Saturation
• Air is saturated when it contains the maximum
quantity of water vapor that it can hold at any
given temperature and pressure.
• When saturated, warm air contains more water
vapor than cold saturated air.
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Humidity
 Relative Humidity
• Relative humidity is a ratio of the air’s actual
water-vapor content compared with the amount
of water vapor air can hold at that temperature
and pressure.
• To summarize, when the water-vapor content of
air remains constant, lowering air temperature
causes an increase in relative humidity, and
raising air temperature causes a decrease in
relative humidity.
Relative Humidity Varies
with Temperature
18.1 Water in the Atmosphere

Humidity
 Dew Point
• Dew point is the temperature to which a parcel of air
would need to be cooled to reach saturation.
 Measuring Humidity
• A hygrometer is an instrument to measure relative
humidity.
• A psychrometer is a hygrometer with dry- and wet-
bulb thermometers. Evaporation of water from the
wet bulb makes air temperature appear lower than
the dry bulb’s measurement. The two temperatures
are compared to determine the relative humidity.
Dew on a Spider Web
Sling Psychrometer
18.2 Cloud Formation

Air Compression and Expansion

 Adiabatic Temperature Changes
• When air is allowed to expand, it cools, and
when it is compressed, it warms.
 Expansion and Cooling
• Dry adiabatic rate is the rate of cooling or
heating that applies only to unsaturated air.
• Wet adiabatic rate is the rate of adiabatic
temperature change in saturated air.
Cloud Formation by Adiabatic Cooling
18.2 Cloud Formation

Processes That Lift Air

 Four mechanisms that can cause air to rise
are orographic lifting, frontal wedging,
convergence, and localized convective
lifting.
 Orographic Lifting
• Orographic lifting occurs when mountains act
as barriers to the flow of air, forcing the air to
ascend.
• The air cools adiabatically; clouds and
precipitation may result.
18.2 Cloud Formation

Processes That Lift Air

 Frontal Wedging
• A front is the boundary between two adjoining
air masses having contrasting characteristics.
Orographic Lifting and Frontal Wedging
18.2 Cloud Formation

Processes That Lift Air

 Convergence
• Convergence is when air flows together and
rises.
 Localized Convective Lifting
• Localized convective lifting occurs where
unequal surface heating causes pockets of air to
rise because of their buoyancy.
Convergence and Localized
Convective Lifting
18.2 Cloud Formation

Stability
 Density Differences
• Stable air tends to remain in its original position,
while unstable air tends to rise.
 Stability Measurements
• Air stability is determined by measuring the
temperature of the atmosphere at various
heights.
• The rate of change of air temperature with height
is called the environmental lapse rate.
18.2 Cloud Formation

Stability
 Degrees of Stability
• A temperature inversion occurs in a layer of
limited depth in the atmosphere where the
temperature increases rather than decreases with
height.
 Stability and Daily Weather
• When stable air is forced above the Earth’s
surface, the clouds that form are widespread and
have little vertical thickness compared to their
horizontal dimension.
18.2 Cloud Formation

Condensation
 For any form of condensation to occur, the
air must be saturated.
 Types of Surfaces
• Generally, there must be a surface for water
vapor to condense on.
• Condensation nuclei are tiny bits of particulate
matter that serve as surfaces on which water
vapor condenses when condensation occurs in
the air.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Types of Clouds
 Clouds are classified on the basis of their
form and height.
• Cirrus (cirrus = curl of hair) are clouds that are
high, white, and thin.
• Cumulus (cumulus = a pile) are clouds that
consist of rounded individual cloud masses.
• Stratus (stratus = a layer) are clouds best
described as sheets or layers that cover much
or all of the sky.
Cirrus Clouds
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Types of Clouds
 High Clouds
• Cirrus clouds are high, white, and thin.
• Cirrostratus clouds are flat layers of clouds.
• Cirrocumulus clouds consist of fluffy masses.
 Middle Clouds
• Altocumulus clouds are composed of rounded
masses that differ from cirrocumulus clouds in
that altocumulus clouds are larger and denser.
• Altostratus clouds create a uniform white to gray
sheet covering the sky with the sun or moon
visible as a bright spot.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Types of Clouds
 Low Clouds
• Stratus clouds are best described as sheets or
layers that cover much or all of the sky.
• Stratocumulus clouds have a scalloped bottom
that appears as long parallel rolls or broken
rounded patches.
• Nimbostratus clouds are the main precipitation
makers.
Cloud Classification
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Types of Clouds
 Clouds of Vertical Development
• Some clouds do not fit into any one of the three
height categories mentioned. Such clouds have
their bases in the low height range but often
extend upward into the middle or high altitudes.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Fog
 Fog is defined as a cloud with its base at or
very near the ground.
 Fog Caused by Cooling
• As the air cools, it becomes denser and drains
into low areas such as river valleys, where thick
fog accumulations may occur.
 Fog Caused by Evaporation
• When cool air moves over warm water, enough
moisture may evaporate from the water surface
to produce saturation.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

How Precipitation Forms

 For precipitation to form, cloud droplets
must grow in volume by roughly one million
times.
 Cold Cloud Precipitation
• The Bergeron process is a theory that relates
the formation of precipitation to supercooled
clouds, freezing nuclei, and the different
saturation levels of ice and liquid water.
The Bergeron Process
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

How Precipitation Forms

 Cold Cloud Precipitation
• Supercooled water is the condition of water
droplets that remain in the liquid state at
temperatures well below 0oC.
• Supersaturated air is the condition of air that is
more concentrated than is normally possible
under given temperature and pressure
conditions.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

How Precipitation Forms

 Warm Cloud Precipitation
• The collision-coalescence process is a theory
of raindrop formation in warm clouds (above 0oC)
in which large cloud droplets collide and join
together with smaller droplets to form a raindrop.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Forms of Precipitation
 The type of precipitation that reaches
Earth’s surface depends on the temperature
profile in the lower few kilometers of the
atmosphere.
 Rain and Snow
• In meteorology, the term rain means drops of
water that fall from a cloud and have a diameter
of at least 0.5 mm.
• At very low temperatures (when the moisture
content of air is low) light fluffy snow made up
of individual six-sided ice crystals forms.
18.3 Cloud Types and Precipitation

Forms of Precipitation
 Rain and Snow
• Sleet is the fall of clear-to-translucent ice.
• Hail is produced in cumulonimbus clouds.
• Hailstones begin as small ice pellets that grow
by collecting supercooled water droplets as they
fall through a cloud.
Largest Recorded Hailstone