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The altitude, form, and thickness of the clouds are the main factors that affect the local heating or cooling of the Earth and the atmosphere. Clouds that form above the troposphere are too scarce and too thin to have any influence on climate change. Clouds are the main uncertainty in climate sensitivity. [2]
Rope cloud (informal term) – A narrow, long, elongated line of cumulus clouds that sometimes develop at the leading edge of an advancing cold front that is often visible in satellite imagery. [22] Scud cloud (informal term for WMO species fractus) – ragged detached portions of cloud that usually form in precipitation. Sea of clouds
Cumulus clouds can form in lines stretching over 480 kilometres (300 mi) long called cloud streets. These cloud streets cover vast areas and may be broken or continuous. They form when wind shear causes horizontal circulation in the atmosphere, producing the long, tubular cloud streets. [ 10 ]
the cloud IR emissivity, with values between 0 and 1, with a global average around 0.7; the effective cloud amount, the cloud amount weighted by the cloud IR emissivity, with a global average of 0.5; the cloud (visible) optical depth varies within a range of 4 and 10. the cloud water path for the liquid and solid (ice) phases of the cloud particles
Globally, they form anywhere between 4,000 and 20,000 meters (13,000 and 66,000 feet) above sea level, with the higher elevations usually in the tropics and the lower elevations in more polar regions. Cirrus clouds can form from the tops of thunderstorms and tropical cyclones and sometimes predict the arrival of rain or storms.
Stratus clouds may also form from formation mechanisms that are not typical for the cloud type, for example, Stratus homogenitus, which are stratus formed by human activity, Stratus cataractagenitus, which are formed from the spray of waterfalls, and Stratus silvagenitus, which are formed by evaporation or evapotranspiration occurring in a forest.
Lenticular clouds (from Latin lenticularis ' lentil-shaped ', from lenticula ' lentil ') are stationary clouds that form mostly in the troposphere, typically in parallel alignment to the wind direction. They are often comparable in appearance to a lens or saucer. Nacreous clouds that form in the lower stratosphere sometimes have lenticular shapes.
A thickening and lowering of these high clouds into middle-stage altostratus or altocumulus is a good sign the warm front or low has moved closer and precipitation may begin within less than six hours. Once the clouds have thickened to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) from the earth’s surface, precipitation can begin to fall from heavy nimbostratus ...