Clouds and Their Formation

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Clouds and Their Formation
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What is a cloud?

• A Cloud consists of condensed water vapor, ice
  and dust (aerosols)
• There are three main types cumulus, stratus,
  and cirrus

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Requirements for cloud formation

• Condensation Nuclei small suspended particles
  or aerosols which the water vapor condenses on
  (ex dust, pollen, sea salt)
• Saturated air (with water- relative humidity is
  100)

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Recall The Water Cycle
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What Happens?

• As air rises it expands (less pressure on it) and
  cools
• It cools without any energy input or
  adiabatically
• It reaches the dew point, and the water vapor
  condenses
• The opposite is true in a sinking air mass- it
  compresses and warms
• Ice crystals can form if the atmospheric
  temperature is below 0 ºC

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Draw this out
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Lets Sum up

• Create a flow chart showing the steps in cloud

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• cloud types (see diagram)
• dew water condenses on ground surface
• frost water condenses and freezes on surface
• fog cloud at ground level

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When will it Rain?

• Water droplets coalesce (grow together) and get
  too heavy to stay in the air- so they fall as
  rain
• types of precipitation include rain,drizzle,
  freezing rain(reaches a cold pocket of air and
  freezes upon contact with a surface), sleet (snow
  and rain mixed), hail(ice spheres that begin in a
  cloud as snow or rain and melt and gather
  moisture as they fall), and snow (deposits)

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