Download - Clouds and precipitation
By Zach Kraus
Clouds And Precipitation
http://www.layoutsparks.com/1/142820/rain-cloud-falling-drops.html
Adiabatic Temperature Changes and Expansion and Cooling
• Air cools when it expands and it warms when it compresses
• Dry adiabatic rate is 10ᵒ per every 1000 meters
• Wet adiabatic rate is 5ᵒ-8ᵒ per every 100 meters
modelliabridal.net
Orographic Lifting
• When elevated land, like mountains, blocks the airflow
• which can cause adiabatic cooling which makes clouds and precipitation
• ag.arizona.edu
Frontal Wedging
• When cool dense air makes less dense warmer air rise above the cooler air
• geo.hunter.cuny.edu
Convergence
• Airflow from more than one direction, usually up
• Leads to adiabatic cooling and the formation of clouds
• ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu
Localized Convective Lifting
• When warm pockets of air around cooler air pushes the warm air up
• rst.gsfc.nasa.gov
Stability
• Stable air resists vertical movement while unstable air rises freely
• The most stable air is when air temperature rises with height which is called a temperature inversion
• Thin clouds are formed when stable air is forced into the atmosphere, compared to puffy clouds formed from unstable air
splendidlittlestars.blogspot.com
Condensation
• Can be in the forms of dew, fog, or clouds• Air must be saturated for any kind of
condensation• Must have a surface to condensate on
usefilm.com
Types of Clouds
• Classified on the basis of their form and height• Cirrus clouds are white, thin, and high• Cumulus clouds are round individual clouds• Stratus clouds are sheets that cover up a lot of
the sky
electricscotland.com
High Clouds
• First type, Cirrus clouds are very thin and wispy
• Second type, Cirrocumulus that have fluffy masses
• Last type, Cirrostratus clouds are flat layers
eo.ucar.edu
Middle Clouds
• Range from about 2,000-6,000 meters• Altocumulus clouds are thicker and denser
than cirrocumulus • Altostratus clouds creates a white blanket that
covers the sky
eo.ucar.edu
Low Clouds
• Stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus are the three types of low clouds
• Stratus clouds are like foggy layers of clouds • Stratocumulus clouds appear as long patches
of clouds • Nimbostratus clouds are usually the clouds
that create precipitation and are made of stable air
eo.ucar.edu
Clouds of Vertical Development
• Associated with unstable air• Usually cumulus clouds that grow upward and
turns into cumulonimbus cloud that usually makes rain and thunderstorms
prwatch.org
Fog
• No difference between fog and clouds, fog is defined as a cloud with its base close to the ground
• Sometimes made by warm moist air moves over cold ground
• May occur when cool air moves over warm water
stuffintheair.com
Cold Cloud Precipitation
• The Bergeron procedure relies on super cooling and supersaturating to chill the water in the air
• Super cooled water is water under 0 and will readily freeze if touches a solid object
stockphotopro.com
Warm Cloud Precipitation
• The collision-coalescence process forms raindrops in warm clouds
frrl.wordpress.com
Rain and Snow
• The term rain means drops of water that fall from clouds and need to be .5 mm, rain smaller than that is considered drizzle
• When the temperature is lower 6 sided ice crystals that are fluffy and white fall from clouds
its.caltech.edu
Sleet, Glaze, and Hail
• Sleet is falling pieces of ice that are small and almost see through
• Glaze is raindrops that freeze when they hit the ground
• Hail is pieces of ice that grow bigger and bigger as they fall through the air
askpari.wordpress.com
THE END!!!school.discoveryeducation.com