The Water Cycle …….and its contribution to clouds

1. The Water Cycle…….and its contribution to clouds By me Ryan Rice

2. Three states of water matter Solid Liquid Gas To change state, heat must be Absorbed, or Released Heat energy Measured in calories – one calorie is the heat necessary to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius Latent heat Stored or hidden heat Not derived from temperature change Important in atmospheric processes

3. Processes Evaporation Liquid is changed to gas Condensation Water vapor (gas) is changed to a liquid Melting Solid is changed to a liquid Freezing Liquid is changed to a solid Sublimation Solid is changed directly to a gas Deposition Water vapor (gas) changed to a solid (e.g., frost in a freezer compartment)

7. CloudsMade of millions and millions of minute water droplets, or tiny crystals of ice Classification based on form CirrusCumulus Stratus

8. Classification based on • Height • High clouds – above 6,000 meters • Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters • Low clouds – below 2,000 meters Classification based on Height High clouds – above 6,000 meters Types include cirrus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters Types include altostratus and altocumulus Low clouds – below 2,000 meters Types include stratus,

9. Cirrus Clouds The most common form of high-level clouds are thin and often wispy. Typically found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters),  Cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets. Generally occur in fair weather and point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.

10. Cumulus Clouds The Cotton Balls in the Sky Low clouds – below 2,000 meters  can form low as 300 ft Types include stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus (nimbus means “rainy”) Cumulus clouds are formed as a result of the process of convection, wherein warm air rises in the atmosphere and eventually cools down.

11. Clouds of vertical development From low to high altitudes are Called Cumulonimbus Often/ most of the time, produce rain showers and thunderstorms

12. Altostratus clouds Stratus – sheets or layers that cover much of the sky Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters At dusk, colors are gray or blue-gray, composed of ice crystals and water droplets

14. Adiabatic temperature changes occur whenAir is compressed Motion of air molecules increases Air will warm Descending air is compressed due to increasing air pressure Air expandsAir will cool Rising air will expand due to decreasing air pressure Adiabatic heating/cooling

15. Adiabatic rates Dry adiabatic rate Unsaturated air Rising air expands and cools at 1˚C per 100 meters (5.5˚F per 1,000 feet) Descending air is compressed and warms at 1˚C per 100 meters Wet adiabatic rate Commences at condensation level Air has reached the dew point Condensation is occurring and latent heat is being liberated Heat released by the condensing water reduces the rate of cooling Rate varies from 0.5˚C to 0.9˚C per 100 meters

16. Wet rate is less. Wet rate is less… Latent heat is released when Water vapor condenses

17. Processes that lift airVery important for weather: lifted air cools adiabatically and condenses to form clouds. Lifting is generally required to produce precipitation. Orographic lifting Elevated terrains act as barriers Result can be a rain shadow desert Frontal wedging Cool air acts as a barrier to warm air Fronts are part of the storm systems called middle-latitude cyclones Convergence Where the air is flowing together and rising (low pressure) Localized convective lifting Localized convective lifting occurs where unequal surface heating causes pockets of air to rise because of their buoyancy

18. Orographic lifting

19. Frontal Wedging

20. FRONTS Boundary that separates air masses of different densities Air masses retain their identities Warmer, less dense air forced aloft Cooler, denser air acts as wedge

21. Warm front Warm air replaces cooler air Small slope (1:200) Clouds become lower as the front nears Slow rate of advance Light-to-moderate precipitation

22. Cold front Cold air replaces warm air Twice as steep (1:100) as warm fronts Advances faster than a warm front Associated weather is more violent than a warm front Intensity of precipitation is greater Duration of precipitation is shorter

25. Fog: fog is like clouds in that both are formed by condensation of water vapor from the air. Unlike clouds, fog commonly forms by radioactive cooling rather than by adiabatic cooling (cooling accompanying lifting) Types of fog Fogs caused by cooling Advection fog – warm, moist air moves over a cool surface: e.g. the California marine layer: warm most air moves over the cold California current; the cooling leads to condensation and fog formation. Radiation fog Earth’s surface cools rapidly Forms during cool, clear, calm nights San Joaquin Valley tulle fog!! Upslope fog Humid air moves up a slope Adiabatic cooling occurs(like cloud formation)

27. Contrails…what are they?

28. Contrails or vapor trails are condensation trails and artificial cirrus clouds made by the exhaust of aircraft engines or wingtip vortices which precipitate a stream of tiny ice crystals in moist, frigid upper air. However, contrails generated by engine exhaust are inevitably linked with typical fuel combustion pollutants. Contrails might also be considered visual pollution.

29. September 11, 2001 climate impact study.  It had been hypothesized that in regions such as the United States with heavy air traffic, contrails affected the weather, reducing solar heating during the day and radiation of heat during the night by increasing theAlbedo. Measurements did show that without contrails the local diurnal temperature range was about 1 degree Celsius higher than immediately before;

30. Lets watch a movie…… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjI-0uA9L8&feature=related History Channel Documentary Validates Chemtrails and Weather Warfare

31. Ahh finally…the CONCLUSION The Earth’s climate has many drivers that influence its behavior. The most abundant one on the earth’s surface is Water. Water moves around the earth in many different processes, any where from Evaporation and Condensation to freezing and melting. All of these processes either release or absorb heat. When this heat is released, very intense storm systems. Clouds are formed when millions and millions of ice crystals come together.

32. Work CitedWarming and the Future of Humanity”. 2008. Book Surge p\Publishing, USA Crystal Link/ Contrails/ Chemtrails. http://www.crystalinks.com/chemtrails.html Hayden c. Howard. “ A Primer on CO2 and Climate second edition”. 2008. Vales Lake Publishing Weather Forecasting Cloud Chart. http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/clouds.htm 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc. Earth Science 12th edition; Tarbuck and Lutgens Windows to the Universe. “ Global Warming, Clouds and Albedo”. http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/warming_clouds_albedo_feedback.html “The Scale of the Universe” Stumble Upon. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1FrxcM/www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525347