HOW THE CLOUDS ARE FORMED?
PHENOMENA THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CLOUD FORMATION
Clouds consist of many tiny droplets resulting from the condensation of water vapor into liquid water or ice. They form when the air is cooled to its dew point. This is considered its condensation or saturation point.
The first requirement for cloud formation is moisture.This moisture is constantly recycled through the earth-atmosphere system by the hydrologic cycle.
The primary way to cool the atmosphere is through upward vertical motion or lifting of air, thus the second requirement for cloud formation is a source of lift, via the following processes:
Convection – Occurs when an air mass, heated by contact with warm ground, becomes buoyant and moves upward. This produces dome-shaped cumulus or stormy cumulonimbus if the convection is sufficiently powerful.
Orographic lifting – When air mass encounters a mountain range, the landmass forces the air upward, often lifting it to condensation level. This usually produces layers of stratus-type clouds.
Convergence – When two or more air masses collide, some air is forced upward. In the midlatitudes these convergences can seed extratropical cyclones that bring stormy weather to large parts of Earth.
Frontal formation – when two air masses of different temperature meet along a front, the warmer air mass is forced to rise. If the warm air is sufficiently moist, cloud will then form.
No matter how come they are formed or what shape they take, every cloud is a visible mass of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. With rare exceptions, clouds exist entirely between the troposphere till the lowest layer of the atmosphere and they can be classified by fourth groups.
Clouds consist of many tiny droplets resulting from the condensation of water vapor into liquid water or ice. They form when the air is cooled to its dew point. This is considered its condensation or saturation point.
The first requirement for cloud formation is moisture.This moisture is constantly recycled through the earth-atmosphere system by the hydrologic cycle.
The primary way to cool the atmosphere is through upward vertical motion or lifting of air, thus the second requirement for cloud formation is a source of lift, via the following processes:
Convection – Occurs when an air mass, heated by contact with warm ground, becomes buoyant and moves upward. This produces dome-shaped cumulus or stormy cumulonimbus if the convection is sufficiently powerful.
Orographic lifting – When air mass encounters a mountain range, the landmass forces the air upward, often lifting it to condensation level. This usually produces layers of stratus-type clouds.
Convergence – When two or more air masses collide, some air is forced upward. In the midlatitudes these convergences can seed extratropical cyclones that bring stormy weather to large parts of Earth.
Frontal formation – when two air masses of different temperature meet along a front, the warmer air mass is forced to rise. If the warm air is sufficiently moist, cloud will then form.
No matter how come they are formed or what shape they take, every cloud is a visible mass of tiny water droplets or ice crystals. With rare exceptions, clouds exist entirely between the troposphere till the lowest layer of the atmosphere and they can be classified by fourth groups.