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A capping inversion occurs when there is a boundary layer with a normal temperature profile (warm air rising into cooler air) and the layer above that is an inversion layer (cooler air below warm air). Cloud formation from the lower layer is "capped" by the inversion layer.
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
A warmer air mass moving over a cooler one can "shut off" any convection which may be present in the cooler air mass: this is known as a capping inversion. However, if this cap is broken, either by extreme convection overcoming the cap or by the lifting effect of a front or a mountain range, the sudden release of bottled-up convective energy ...
Warm air has a lower density than cool air, so warm air rises within cooler air, [8] [better source needed] similar to hot air balloons. [citation needed] Clouds form as relatively warmer air carrying moisture rises within cooler air. As the moist air rises, it cools causing some of the water vapor in the rising packet of air to condense. [9]
This temperature inversion is the opposite of what is normally the case; air is usually warmer close to the surface, and cooler higher up. In calm weather, a layer of significantly warmer air can rest over colder dense air, forming an atmospheric duct which acts like a refracting lens , producing a series of both inverted and erect images.
Stratus clouds are low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective or cumuliform clouds formed by rising thermals. The term stratus describes flat, hazy , featureless clouds at low altitudes varying in color from dark gray to nearly white. [ 2 ]
Cloud feedback is a type of climate change feedback, ... clouds make the Earth cooler than it would have been without them. [3]: ... Air pollution, including from ...
Clouds and potentially fog can form within a marine layer when the water-saturated air is cooled and reaches a humidity of 100%, where it will then condense and turn into water droplets. [3] Stratus and stratocumulus can form at the top of a marine layer in the presence of these conditions. A marine layer can often be dispersed by sufficiently ...