A report on Cloud

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Stratocumuliform cloudscape
Tropospheric cloud classification by altitude of occurrence: Multi-level and vertical genus-types not limited to a single altitude level include nimbostratus, cumulonimbus, and some of the larger cumulus species.
Cumulus humilis clouds in May
Windy evening twilight enhanced by the Sun's angle, can visually mimic a tornado resulting from orographic lift
Nimbostratus cloud producing precipitation
Cirrus fibratus clouds in March
Stratocumulus over Orange County.
Stratocumulus cloud
Cumulus humilis clouds
Cumulonimbus cloud over the Gulf of Mexico in Galveston, Texas
High cirrus upper-left merging into cirrostratus and some cirrocumulus upper right
A large field of cirrocumulus
Sunrise scene giving a shine to an altocumulus stratiformis perlucidus cloud (see also 'species and varieties')
Altostratus translucidus near top of photo merging into altostratus opacus near bottom
Cumulus humilis clouds over Jakarta, Indonesia
Stratocumulus stratiformis perlucidus over Galapagos, Tortuga Bay (see also 'species and varieties')
Stratus nebulosus translucidus
Deep multi-level nimbostratus cloud covering the sky with a scattered layer of low stratus fractus pannus (see also 'species' and 'supplementary features' sections)
Cumulus humilis and cumulus mediocris with stratocumulus stratiformis perlucidus in the foreground (see also 'species and varieties')
Towering vertical cumulus congestus embedded within a layer of cumulus mediocris: Higher layer of stratocumulus stratiformis perlucidus.
Progressive evolution of a single cell thunderstorm
Isolated cumulonimbus cloud over the Mojave Desert, releasing a heavy shower
Altocumulus lenticularis forming over mountains in Wyoming with lower layer of cumulus mediocris and higher layer of cirrus spissatus
Example of a castellanus cloud formation
Cumulus mediocris cloud, about to turn into a cumulus congestus
A layer of stratocumulus stratiformis perlucidus hiding the setting sun with a background layer of stratocumulus cumulogenitus resembling distant mountains.
Cirrus fibratus radiatus over ESO's La Silla Observatory
Altocumulus stratiformis duplicatus at sunrise in the California Mojave Desert, USA (higher layer orange to white; lower layer grey)
Cumulus partly spreading into stratocumulus cumulogenitus over the port of Piraeus in Greece
Cumulonimbus mother cloud dissipating into stratocumulus cumulonimbogenitus at dusk
Cirrus fibratus intortus formed into a Kármán vortex street at evening twilight
Global cloud cover, averaged over the month of October 2009. NASA composite satellite image.
Lenticular nacreous clouds over Antarctica
Noctilucent cloud over Estonia
Joshua Passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant (1800) by Benjamin West, showing Yahweh leading the Israelites through the desert in the form of a pillar of cloud, as described in
Stratocumulus stratiformis and small castellanus made orange by the sun rising
An occurrence of cloud iridescence with altocumulus volutus and cirrocumulus stratiformis
Sunset reflecting shades of pink onto grey stratocumulus stratiformis translucidus (becoming perlucidus in the background)
Stratocumulus stratiformis perlucidus before sunset. Bangalore, India.
Late-summer rainstorm in Denmark. Nearly black color of base indicates main cloud in foreground probably cumulonimbus.
Particles in the atmosphere and the sun's angle enhance colors of stratocumulus cumulogenitus at evening twilight
Total cloud cover fraction averaged over the years 1981-2010 from the CHELSA-BIOCLIM+ data set

Aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space.

- Cloud
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50 related topics with Alpha

Overall
Different air masses that affect North America, as well as other continents, tend to be separated by frontal boundaries.

Warm front

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Density discontinuity located at the leading edge of a homogeneous warm air mass, and is typically located on the equator-facing edge of an isotherm gradient.

Density discontinuity located at the leading edge of a homogeneous warm air mass, and is typically located on the equator-facing edge of an isotherm gradient.

Different air masses that affect North America, as well as other continents, tend to be separated by frontal boundaries.
A surface weather analysis for the United States on October 21, 2006. Note the warm front in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.

As it cools, any water vapor that is present will condense and form extensive cloud cover.

Late-summer rainstorm in Denmark. Nearly black color of base indicates main cloud in foreground probably cumulonimbus.

Cloud physics

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Study of the physical processes that lead to the formation, growth and precipitation of atmospheric clouds.

Study of the physical processes that lead to the formation, growth and precipitation of atmospheric clouds.

Late-summer rainstorm in Denmark. Nearly black color of base indicates main cloud in foreground probably cumulonimbus.
Windy evening twilight enhanced by the Sun's angle, can visually mimic a tornado resulting from orographic lift

Clouds consist of microscopic droplets of liquid water (warm clouds), tiny crystals of ice (cold clouds), or both (mixed phase clouds).

Nimbostrati often have very few visual features.

Nimbostratus cloud

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Nimbostrati often have very few visual features.

A nimbostratus cloud is a multi-level, amorphous, nearly uniform and often dark grey cloud that usually produces continuous rain, snow or sleet but no lightning or thunder.

Water cycle

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Biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.

Biogeochemical cycle that describes the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth.

Time-mean precipitation and evaporation as a function of latitude as simulated by an aqua-planet version of an atmospheric GCM (GFDL's AM2.1) with a homogeneous “slab-ocean” lower boundary (saturated surface with small heat capacity), forced by annual mean insolation.
Global map of annual mean evaporation minus precipitation by latitude-longitude
Relationship between impervious surfaces and surface runoff
Diagram of the water cycle
Natural water cycle

A huge concentration of these droplets over a large area in the atmosphere become visible as cloud, while condensation near ground level is referred to as fog.

This graph shows the maximum percentage, by mass, of water vapor that air at sea-level pressure across a range of temperatures can contain. For a lower ambient pressure, a curve has to be drawn above the current curve. A higher ambient pressure yields a curve under the current curve.

Dew point

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Temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content.

Temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content.

This graph shows the maximum percentage, by mass, of water vapor that air at sea-level pressure across a range of temperatures can contain. For a lower ambient pressure, a curve has to be drawn above the current curve. A higher ambient pressure yields a curve under the current curve.
Graph of the dependence of the dew point upon air temperature for several levels of relative humidity.

In the air, the condensed water is called either fog or a cloud, depending on its altitude when it forms.

Middle cloud weather map symbols: Includes middle-étage and downward growing vertical.

Altocumulus cloud

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Middle cloud weather map symbols: Includes middle-étage and downward growing vertical.
Altocumulus perlucidus
Altocumulus lenticularis
Altocumulus at sunset
Altocumulus floccus with line of castellanus
Altocumulus during the day
Altocumulus undulatus during a cold front
Altocumulus mamma
Altocumulus stratiformis radiatus

Altocumulus (From Latin Altus, "high", cumulus, "heaped") is a middle-altitude cloud genus that belongs mainly to the stratocumuliform physical category characterized by globular masses or rolls in layers or patches, the individual elements being larger and darker than those of cirrocumulus and smaller than those of stratocumulus.

Aerosol pollution over northern India and Bangladesh (Satellite image by NASA)

Cloud condensation nuclei

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Aerosol pollution over northern India and Bangladesh (Satellite image by NASA)
Phytoplankton bloom in the North Sea and the Skagerrak – NASA

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs), also known as cloud seeds, are small particles typically 0.2 µm, or 1/100 the size of a cloud droplet on which water vapor condenses.

A photograph of Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. A processed version became widely known as The Blue Marble.

Earth

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Third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.

Third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life.

A photograph of Earth taken by the crew of Apollo 17 in 1972. A processed version became widely known as The Blue Marble.
Planetary disk of a star, the inner ring has a radius equal to Earth and the Sun
Artist's impression of earth during the Archean eon, showing falling meteor, erupting volcano, round stromatolites, and barren landscape
Earth topological map, the area is redder if it is raised higher in real-life
Global map of heat flow from Earth's interior to the surface
Earth's major plates, which are: · · · · ·
Satellite picture of Upsala Glacier, showing mountains, icebergs, lakes, and clouds
Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere, with the solar wind flows from left to right
Earth's rotation imaged by Deep Space Climate Observatory, showing axis tilt
Illustration of the Earth, Earth's orbit, the Sun and the four seasons
Earth's axial tilt and its relation to the rotation axis and planes of orbit
Earth-Moon system seen from Mars
A model of Vanguard 1, the oldest human-made object in Earth orbit
Water is transported to various parts of the hydrosphere via the water cycle
Top of Earth's blue-tinted atmosphere, with the Moon at the background
Fungi are one of the kingdoms of life on Earth.
The seven continents of Earth:
Earth's land use for human agriculture
Change in average surface air temperature since the industrial revolution, plus drivers for that change. Human activity has caused increased temperatures, with natural forces adding some variability.
Earthrise, taken in 1968 by William Anders, an astronaut on board Apollo 8
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Hubble Space Telescope seen in orbit from Space Shuttle Atlantis
Processes leading to movements and phase changes in Earth's water
Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the Cupola module of the International Space Station observing the Earth below

Water vapor is widely present in the atmosphere and forms clouds that cover most of the planet.

Luke Howard

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British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science.

British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science.

A depiction of a cumulostratus cloud, included in Howard's 'On the modification of clouds'
English Heritage Blue plaque – 7 Bruce Grove, Tottenham, London

His lasting contribution to science is a nomenclature system for clouds, which he proposed in an 1802 presentation to the Askesian Society.

High cloud weather map symbols

Cirrocumulus cloud

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High cloud weather map symbols
Cirrocumulus clouds on a summer afternoon
Cirrocumulus undulatus clouds

Cirrocumulus is one of the three main genus-types of high-altitude tropospheric clouds, the other two being cirrus and cirrostratus.