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An ice cloud is a colloid of ice particles dispersed in air. The term has been used to refer to clouds of both water ice and carbon dioxide ice on Mars. [1] Such clouds can be sufficiently large and dense to cast shadows on the Martian surface. [1] Cirrus and noctilucent clouds on Earth contain ice particles. [2]
When cirrus clouds are 100 m (330 ft) thick, they reflect only around 9% of the incoming sunlight, but they prevent almost 50% of the outgoing infrared radiation from escaping, thus raising the temperature of the atmosphere beneath the clouds by an average of 10 °C (18 °F) [46] —a process known as the greenhouse effect. [47]
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. [1] [2] Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.
Clouds of the genus nimbostratus tend to bring constant precipitation and low visibility. This cloud type normally forms above 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) [10] from altostratus cloud but tends to thicken into the lower levels during the occurrence of precipitation. The top of a nimbostratus deck is usually in the middle level of the troposphere.
What different clouds mean. Clouds are more than just picturesque features of the sky; they are critical indicators of the weather to come. Understanding the various types of clouds can provide ...
The symmetric shapes are due to depositional growth, which is when ice forms directly from water vapor in the atmosphere. [5] Small spaces in atmospheric particles can also collect water, freeze, and form ice crystals. [6] [7] This is known as nucleation. [8] Snowflakes form when additional vapor freezes onto an existing ice crystal. [9] [10]
Here's how it works: That warmer western Pacific acts like a hot plate under the atmosphere, creating rising air that sends waves rippling eastward, like dropping a stone in a pond.
Also actiniform. Describing a collection of low-lying, radially structured clouds with distinct shapes (resembling leaves or wheels in satellite imagery), and typically organized in extensive mesoscale fields over marine environments. They are closely related to and sometimes considered a variant of stratocumulus clouds. actinometer A scientific instrument used to measure the heating power of ...