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Clouds & Precipitation

Clouds & Precipitation. Saturation vs. Air Temperature. The actual amount of Water air can hold changes With air temperature Air at 104 F can hold 3 times As much water as 68 F air ! (47 grams vs only 15 grams) Air at 68 F can hold 4 times As much water as air at 0 F

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Clouds & Precipitation

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  1. Clouds & Precipitation

  2. Saturation vs. Air Temperature The actual amount of Water air can hold changes With air temperature Air at 104 F can hold 3 times As much water as 68 F air ! (47 grams vs only 15 grams) Air at 68 F can hold 4 times As much water as air at 0 F (15 grams vs only 4 grams) 104 F 47 grams 68 F 15 grams 32 F 4 grams

  3. Adiabatic Cooling: Clouds and Lifting Condensation Level (LCL) • LCL / Cloud base = dew point altitude

  4. CLOUDS • A cloud is water vapor condensed around dust particles (condensation nuclei). • At any given time, ~50% of Earth is covered by clouds and about 6% is having precipitation. • The greater the amount of moisture in an air mass, the lower the level of condensation.

  5. CONDENSATION • > 0o C = water droplets (lower levels) • < 0o C = ice crystals (upper levels) • middle levels = mixture of ice and water

  6. Type of cloud depends on… • amount of moisture in the air • degree of uplift • atmospheric stability

  7. NAMING CLOUDS 3 Basic types: • Cirrus – curly or fibrous • Stratus – means “layer”; flat and/or layered • Cumulus – means “heap”; puffy or piled up • The prefixes cirro (high), alto (middle) refer to • the level in the atmosphere. • The prefix nimbo means “rain-bearing”.

  8. Lifting Mechanisms In order to make clouds, the air has to be lifted so that it will condense. • Convection • Frontal Cloud • OrographicUplift

  9. Orographic Uplift

  10. Cumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GoldenMedows.jpg

  11. Stratus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:FrozenField-Stratus.jpg

  12. Nimbostratus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Nov20-05-Nimbostratus.jpg

  13. Cumulus & Stratocumulus http://www.foundmyself.com/tutorials/text_clouds/clouds_original.jpg

  14. Cirrus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_clouds

  15. Cirrus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrus_clouds

  16. Cumulus & Cirrocumulus http://www.bbc.co.uk/theoneshow/gallery/images/user_submitted/clouds/clouds7_450x340.jpg

  17. Cirrostratus with halo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirrostratus_cloud

  18. Mammatocumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mammatus_clouds_Milan_July.jpg

  19. Mammatocumulus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mammatus_Clouds.png

  20. Lenticular

  21. Lenticular

  22. Iridescent Cloud http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071125.html

  23. Cumulonimbus

  24. Cumulonimbus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Anvil_shaped_cumulus_panorama_edit_crop.jpg

  25. Cumulonimbus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CumulonimbusFlorida.jpg

  26. ??? http://visualfunhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mammatus_cloud_illusion-03.jpeg

  27. ??? http://californiabirdwatching.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/fluffy-clouds-resize1.jpg

  28. ??? http://www.tagbanger.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/lenticular-clouds.jpg

  29. ??? http://anomalyblog.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/cloud2.jpg

  30. Nacreous Noctilucent

  31. apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060329.html ???

  32. Precipitation • The type of precipitation that reaches the ground depends on processes in the cloud and temperatures between the cloud and the ground.

  33. Precipitation Types / Properties

  34. Global Precipitation

  35. HAIL • balls or chunks of ice (1cm-5 cm) • grow due to downdrafts/updrafts in cumulonimbus clouds

  36. Snowflakes and Temperature Snow crystal images from an electron microscope

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