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In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. [1] Water or various other chemicals may compose the droplets and crystals.
The list of cloud types groups all genera as high (cirro-, cirrus), middle (alto-), multi-level (nimbo-, cumulo-, cumulus), and low (strato-, stratus). These groupings are determined by the altitude level or levels in the troposphere at which each of the various cloud types is normally found.
Cloud physics is the study of the physical processes that lead to the formation, growth and precipitation of atmospheric clouds. These aerosols are found in the troposphere , stratosphere , and mesosphere , which collectively make up the greatest part of the homosphere .
A cloud is water vapour in the atmosphere (sky) that has condensed into very small water droplets or ice crystals that appear in visible shapes or formations above the ground. Water on the Earth evaporates (turns into an invisible gas) and rises up into the sky.
Learn to recognize and name the basic cloud types based on a cloud's shape and height in the sky. Plus, learn what each type tells about the weather.
Have you ever looked up at the clouds and wondered what gives them different shapes, sizes and colors? Put yourself in the shoes of NASA scientists as you learn about different cloud types and how they form.
All clouds are made up of basically the same thing: water droplets or ice crystals that float in the sky. But all clouds look a little bit different from one another, and sometimes these differences can help us predict a change in the weather. Here’s a list of some of the most common cloud types you might spot in the sky:
From the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) International Cloud Atlas, the official worldwide standard for clouds, the following are definitions of the ten basic cloud types, divided by their height:
While clouds appear in infinite shapes and sizes, they fall into some basic forms. From his Essay of the Modifications of Clouds (1803), Luke Howard divided clouds into three categories: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus, plus a fourth special type, nimbus.
Cloud, any visible mass of water droplets, ice crystals, or a mixture of both that is suspended in the air, usually at a considerable height (see video). Fog is a shallow layer of cloud at or near ground level.