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Clouds that form just above the freezing level are composed mostly of supercooled liquid droplets, while those that condense out at higher altitudes where the air is much colder generally take the form of ice crystals. An absence of sufficient condensation particles at and above the condensation level causes the rising air to become ...
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]
The cloud base on the leeward side is higher than on the windward side, because precipitation on the windward side removes water from the air. [1] It is possible that simple convection from mountain summits can also form wave clouds. This occurs as the convection forces a wave or lenticular wave cloud into the more stable air above. [2]
Mammatus cloud seen at puthenpeedika,india Mammatus clouds formation in Coimbatore, India Mammatus clouds over the Nepal Himalayas. Mammatus (also called mamma [1] or mammatocumulus, meaning "mammary cloud") is a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud, typically a cumulonimbus raincloud, although they may be attached to other classes of parent clouds.
Clouds form when the dew point temperature of water is reached in the presence of condensation nuclei in the troposphere. The atmosphere is a dynamic system, and the local conditions of turbulence, uplift, and other parameters give rise to many types of clouds. Various types of cloud occur frequently enough to have been categorized.
Water vapor normally begins to condense on condensation nuclei such as dust, ice, and salt in order to form clouds. [14] [15] Fog, like its elevated cousin stratus, is a stable cloud deck which tends to form when a cool, stable air mass is trapped underneath a warm air mass. [16] Fog normally occurs at a relative humidity near 100%. [17]
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]
Stratus clouds form when weak vertical currents lift a layer of air off the ground and it depressurizes, following the lapse rate. This causes the relative humidity to increase due to the adiabatic cooling. [4] This occurs in environments where atmospheric stability is abundant. [5]