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Cloud types. The most unusual types of clouds

By origin, clouds are of several genetic types. Distinguish between intramass clouds, which form inside homogeneous air masses, and frontal clouds - at the boundaries of the interaction of two air masses with different properties.

A. Clouds of intramass origin. As a result of convection that develops when an inhomogeneous surface is heated in unstable air masses, convection clouds arise - cumulus clouds. The more intense the convection, the greater the power of cumulus clouds. They can form cumulus rain clouds. Downward currents are observed on the sides of the clouds. These clouds are most developed in the afternoon and disappear at night.

In stable (warm) air masses, the leading one is the turbulent upward transport of water vapor and its adiabatic cooling.

B. Clouds of the frontal type. Occur when warm and cold air masses meet at the atmospheric front. Warm air rises in a wedge of cold air. The slow rise of warm air leads to its adiabatic cooling and condensation of water vapor. As a result, a complex cloud system arises that captures all cloud tiers. The most powerful part of the system (5-6 km high) is located near the front (nimbostratus Ns).

The inversion layer delays this transfer. Under the inversion layer, water vapor accumulates and cools down by radiation. Clouds of a wavy structure arise (stratus, stratocumulus, altocumulus).

On the high altitude where the temperature of the rising air falls below 0°C, ice crystals appear in the clouds. Crystals can exist together with drops, therefore powerful layers of water-glacial clouds are observed.

Clouds are divided into:

- water- made up of water droplets

- icy- consist of crystalline ice;

- mixed- containing both water droplets and ice crystals.

AT warm time Years, water clouds form mainly in the lower layers of the troposphere, mixed in the middle, and icy in the upper.

By international classification Clouds are classified according to height and appearance.

Clouds are divided into four families according to height:

  1. I. upper clouds above 6000 m (CH);
  2. II. middle tier clouds located at an altitude of 2000 to 6000 m (CM);
  3. III. low clouds below 2000 m (CL);
  4. IV. clouds of vertical development. The bases of these clouds are located at the level of the lower tier, and the tops can reach the position of the clouds of the upper tier.

In appearance, clouds are divided into 10 genera. The genera are divided into families as follows:

Upper tier :

  1. Cirruscirrus(Ci) - look like separate threads, ridges or strips of a fibrous structure;
  2. cirrocumulus Cirrocumulus(Cc) - ridges or layers having a structure of very small flakes, balls, curls (lambs);
  3. CirrostratusCirrostratus(Cs) - a thin transparent whitish veil partially or completely covering the sky.

All clouds of the upper tier are icy.

Middle tier:

  1. AltocumulusAltocumulus(Ac) - cloud layers or ridges of white or gray color. They are made up of tiny water droplets.
  2. Highly layeredAltostratus(As) - they can also penetrate into the upper layer, they have a large thickness, a milky-gray cloud cover completely covers the sky. They are mixed clouds. They give weak drizzling or in the form fine snow precipitation.

Lower tier:

  1. StratocumulusStratocumulus(Sc) - ridges or layers of blocks and shafts of gray color. Water, give weak precipitation in the form of drizzle, in supercooled form they do not give precipitation;
  2. layeredStratus(St) - the lowest clouds in the form of a uniform gray color. Clouds are water, precipitation from them falls in the form of drizzle, fine snow, cereals.
  3. NimbostratusNimbostratus(Ns) - shapeless, gray color of high power. Clouds mixed type give heavy rainfall.
  4. CumulusCumulus(Cu) - dense cloudy clubs and heaps with sharply defined contours and an almost horizontal base. Water, do not give precipitation.

10. CumulonimbusCumulonimbus(Cb) - powerful heap-shaped masses, very strongly developed vertically in the form of mountains and towers. Their tops are flattened. In the upper part they are ice, in the lower part they are water. They give rain showers, sometimes with hail. Thunderstorms are associated with them, so they are often called shower or thunderstorms.

Cloud types and the height at which they form in mid-latitudes

Cloud formation is also possible outside the troposphere, but they have been studied much less. For example, mother-of-pearl clouds can be observed in the stratosphere, and noctilucent clouds can be observed in the mesosphere.

Literature

  1. Zubashchenko E.M. Regional Physiography. Climates of the Earth: teaching aid. Part 1. / E.M. Zubashchenko, V.I. Shmykov, A.Ya. Nemykin, N.V. Polyakov. - Voronezh: VGPU, 2007. - 183 p.

Cloudiness- a complex of clouds that appear in a certain place on the planet (point or territory) at a certain moment or period of time.

Types of clouds

One or another type of cloudiness corresponds to certain processes occurring in the atmosphere, and therefore portends one or another weather. Knowledge of the types of clouds from the point of view of the navigator is important for predicting weather from local characteristics. For practical purposes, clouds are divided into 10 main forms, which in turn are subdivided by height and vertical extent into 4 types:

Clouds of large vertical development. These include:

Cumulus. Latin name - Cumulus(marked as Cu on weather maps)- separate thick vertically developed clouds. The upper part of the cloud is dome-shaped, with prominences, the lower part is almost horizontal. The average vertical extent of the cloud is 0.5 -2 km. Average Height lower base from earth's surface– 1.2 km.

- heavy masses of clouds of large vertical development in the form of towers and mountains. The upper part is a fibrous structure, often with projections to the sides in the form of an anvil. The average vertical length is 2-3 km. The average height of the lower base is 1 km. Often give heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms.

Clouds of the lower tier. These include:

- low, amorphous, stratified, almost uniform rain clouds of dark gray color. The lower base is 1-1.5 km. The average vertical extent of the cloud is 2 km. Heavy rain falls from these clouds.


- a uniform light gray foggy veil of continuous low clouds. Often formed from rising fog or turning into fog. The height of the lower base is 0.4–0.6 km. The average vertical extent is 0.7 km.


- Low cloud cover, consisting of individual ridges, waves, plates or flakes, separated by gaps or translucent areas (translucent) or without clearly visible gaps, the fibrous structure of such clouds is more clearly visible near the horizon.

Clouds of the middle tier. These include:

- a fibrous veil of gray or bluish color. The lower base is located at an altitude of 3-5 km. Vertical length - 04 - 0.8 km).


- layers or spots, consisting of strongly flattened rounded masses. The lower base is located at an altitude of 2–5 km. The average vertical extent of the cloud is 0.5 km.

Upper clouds. All of them are white, during the day they almost do not give a shadow. These include:

Cirrostratus (Cs) - a thin whitish translucent veil, gradually covering the entire sky. They do not obscure the outer contours of the Sun and Moon, leading to the appearance of a halo around them. The lower boundary of the cloud is at an altitude of about 7 km.

The question "What is a cloud?" people wondered back in those distant times, when only birds and the clouds themselves flew across the sky. Wikipedia did not yet exist then, and no one had yet invented or published the Children's Encyclopedia. Therefore, some dreamers just didn’t come up with to explain this phenomenon of nature.

Because clouds look so soft and fluffy from below, there was a time when people thought they were made of fluff.

There were also more amusing assumptions about what these heavenly formations are made of. It was even said that the building material of the white giants floating across the sky is cotton candy.

Of course, these are inventions. What the cloud consists of, scientists learned at the end of the 18th century. It happened when mankind found a way to rise into the sky. It was then that it was possible to answer the question: what does the cloud consist of? It turned out that the clouds that seem white and dense from below are actually ordinary fog. So walking in foggy weather is like traveling through a cloud.
In those same years, people learned what clouds are made of. After all, before that, their nature was also explained in different ways. But all this will be discussed a little later.

In general, clouds can consist not only of water droplets, like ordinary fog, but also of ice crystals. It all depends on how high they are.

Most often, clouds appear at an altitude of 6 to 20 km from the surface of our planet. This part of the atmosphere is called the troposphere. It is here that clouds are formed, consisting of water droplets. The temperature inside such formations is usually above -10 0 C. The clouds that form at this height can have a different structure and shape.

There are also clouds that are born much higher. For example, the so-called mother-of-pearl clouds are born 20-25 km from the Earth. However, the champions are almost invisible noctilucent clouds without special equipment. Their cradle is located at an altitude of 70 to 80 km above sea level.

Why and how do clouds appear?

But how are clouds formed? For children it is very important question. To answer it, you need to get acquainted with another interesting physical phenomenon- condensation. What is it?

We have all seen more than once how steam comes out of the spout of a boiling kettle. If you substitute a cold saucer under this stream, then droplets of water will appear on its surface. This phenomenon is called condensation.

Approximately the same processes take place in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Water vapor, rising higher and higher, cools and begins to condense into liquid droplets, from which clouds form. The size of these droplets is incredibly small - 100, and sometimes 1000 times less than 1 mm. If the vapor manages to rise very high, then it will turn not into liquid, but into solid state. Therefore, in the uppermost layers of the atmosphere, clouds consist of tiny pieces of ice.

But in order for the steam to begin to condense, only lowering the temperature is not enough. The center of each droplet or crystal is the smallest speck of dust, around which moisture has collected.

By the way, it is for this reason that very large clouds can often be observed over cities where there are a lot of cars or large factories. Indeed, in such places there are much more different air polluting particles in the atmosphere than in sparsely populated areas of our planet.

Why do clouds fly?

From the surface of the Earth, clouds seem so light and airy. In fact, they can weigh many tons. Like a whole cloud of water, consisting of huge cluster water droplets stay in the air? Everything is very simple. The size of each droplet is so small that even a small stream of air rising from the Earth stops them from falling.

Scientists have calculated that the updraft speed to hold the cloud could be as low as 50 cm per second. If we translate this number into a more understandable form, we get a very small value - 1.8 km / h. And this is much less than the speed of a pedestrian.

What are clouds?

Beautiful white mountains floating in a bright blue sky are always a delight to the eye. But why do they seem like this?
It turns out that the more sunlight passes through the clouds, the whiter they appear to us from Earth. A gray overcast sky only means that the cloud layer is very dense and the sun's rays practically do not pass through it. But black clouds most often just contain a lot of dust. Cloud formations of this color often appear again over industrial areas, where air pollution is most severe.

But clouds differ not only in color, but also in shape. The common name for clouds, as a rule, describes them appearance. Although scientists have come up with a very complex classification of clouds, only three types of clouds can be clearly distinguished.

It is this type of accumulation of water vapor in the sky that we most often call clouds. These are the very dazzling white giants, smoothly changing their shape. It is for them that people like to watch, imagining who they look like. Such cloudiness does not bother at all. And this is not surprising, because cumulus clouds are the companions of good weather.


However, it is this type of cloud that periodically turns into clouds, which scientists call cumulonimbus clouds. What is the cloud made of? Actually from the same as all clouds. As a rule, its lower layers are water droplets. But the upper part of the rain clouds consists of ice crystals. Due to this layering, the height of the clouds can be very large, sometimes reaching 10 km.

Stratus clouds are not so beautiful anymore. Most often they are gray in a variety of shades. Such clouds are quite dense and consist exclusively of droplets ready to fall to the Earth. They swim not so high above the surface. In this case, the height of the clouds above the ground is about 1-2 km.


If the sky is covered with stratus clouds interspersed with cumulus clouds, then it's okay - the weather is unlikely to deteriorate. This type of cloudiness is often also called stratocumulus clouds. By the way, exactly similar view clouds appears before the mind's eye when you need to answer the question: "What is cloudiness?". But a solid gray blanket always suggests a long and tedious rain.

And this kind of clouds is located quite high. They can be observed at about seven kilometers altitude. They look like lambs or strokes of oil paint smeared in the sky.

Such cloudiness indicates an imminent change in weather not in better side. By the way, cirrus clouds are the most photogenic. The photos in which they are present look incredibly impressive.

The clouds are very heavy. On average, their weight is about 10 tons. In addition, they also have huge sizes. A single cloud can extend over 10 km, and thunderclouds can extend the same distance in height.

The duration of the "life" of clouds depends on the humidity of the air. With normal humidity, a cloud can exist for a very long time. But at low temperatures, the droplets of water that make up the cloud will begin to evaporate quickly and it can live no more than 15 minutes.

It is hard to imagine, looking at the clouds floating across the sky, that this miracle of nature can be created at home. Although in fact a real cloud can be made artificially. True, this requires special equipment. I came up with how to make clouds by the Dutch artist Berndnaut Smilde. His homemade clouds do not last long, about 10 seconds. But during this time they can be photographed or filmed at the moment of the birth of a small cloud.

Such a phenomenon as cloudiness is observed not only on Earth, but also on several other planets. solar system. Clouds have been detected in the atmosphere of Venus and Mars, as well as on the satellites of Saturn - Titan and Neptune - Triton.

In 2004, several meteorologists and physicists came together to form international organization Society of Cloud Lovers. They not only admire these bizarre creatures of the earth's atmosphere themselves, but also urge everyone to raise their eyes to the sky to admire the beautiful and diverse clouds.

Surprisingly, even scientists do not know everything about clouds. Their study is still ongoing. Both in Russia and in the USA, programs are still working to find out all the properties of these beautiful, snow-white, airy islands.

Many people like to admire the sky. Thanks to the clouds, it is very diverse. In summer you can see how fluffy white "horses" swim overhead. With the onset of autumn, the sky is often covered with "lead" low-hanging clouds. And sometimes, even in clear weather, white, barely noticeable "feathers" can be observed high up. Each type of these clouds has its corresponding name. So we have known since school that there are stratus, cumulus and cirrus clouds. All of them, in turn, are divided into mixed subspecies.

How they are formed

Although according to outward signs, nature and height of location, all clouds are different, they form for one reason. The air that heats up near the surface of the earth rises to the sky and gradually cools. Having reached a certain height, it begins to thicken into water droplets. This happens because the cooled air cannot remain in a vapor state and forms into droplets. But for condensation to occur, solid particles, such as dust or minute salts, must rise with the steam. It is to them that water molecules stick. All the clouds we see are collections of droplets and/or ice crystals.

Where is someone located

As you know, there are no identical clouds, because they always change their shape. It depends on what winds they are exposed to, at what height and at what temperature these formations take place. white-maned horses". Many of them are formed in the troposphere (there are some species that are much higher) and are divided into tiers, of which there are three. The upper one is considered from a height of 8-18 km. Here cirrus clouds, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus are formed.

In the middle layer, which starts from 2 km and ends at 8 km, Altocumulus and Altostratus species are formed. Cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds also form here, they have a vertical shape. But their amazing feature is that they can form in the lower tier and line up to the upper tier.

We also know stratus, nimbostratus and stratocumulus clouds. These types of formations are usually located on the lower tier up to 2 km. Such clouds usually do not let the sun's rays through, and long-term precipitation comes from them.

What do cirrus clouds say

This type is often not perceived as true clouds, as they do not carry obvious precipitation. They are scattered across the sky in a row in the form of white shreds or threads. The height of cirrus clouds depends on the latitude in which they formed, but in any part they occupy the upper tier of the troposphere. So, in tropical latitudes, their bases can form at 6-18 km from the earth, in middle latitudes from about 6 to 8 km, and in the polar part from 3 to 8. They consist of large ice crystals, so the speed of their fall is almost imperceptible. At the same time, cirrus clouds are elongated vertically for hundreds of meters.

Their formation occurs at the moment when in the upper tier air masses practically immobile. But if the wind starts to get stronger, it pulls these clouds up and they look like hooks pulled up. This shape is a sure sign that high in the sky is raging strong wind. For a person, they are a signal that a warm front will come in a day or two.

But sometimes in the night sky it becomes noticeable how a halo (luminous edging) of thin cirrus clouds has formed around the Moon. Such a phenomenon has always been considered a sign that worsening weather is imminent.

Sometimes the sky is covered with cirrostratus clouds, which resemble a translucent veil. They can be blurry, and are fibrous. The thickness of the cloud layer can exceed several kilometers. They are also formed from ice crystals, which are combined into columns. These clouds usually belong to warm fronts.

Harbingers of good or bad weather

Often we have to observe how the sky is decorated with white cumulus clouds that develop upward and resemble hills or pieces of cotton wool. They are formed only from watery drops, but at the same time there are no downpours, only some of them can be poured with a light rain. Experienced observers know that such clouds indicate good weather for the day, and the higher they float in the sky, the warmer the air. Although under certain conditions, cumulus clouds can outgrow and become thunderstorms.

Most often, we don’t really think about what sometimes complex and unusual shapes are for all those clouds that float daily in the sky above our heads. You have probably seen many of the clouds that we have prepared for you right now. But do you know what scientists call them, or what exactly determines their appearance? Each variety has its own peculiarity, and you are unlikely to ever see some clouds from this list with your own eyes ...

25. Storm Collar

These cumulonimbus clouds usually portend heavy thunderstorm or cold atmospheric front. They form low in the sky and are shaped like a long shaft or roll.

24. Shelf bulk clouds


Photo: pixabay

This type of storm collar also forms in the lower atmosphere during thunderstorms and cold fronts. Protruding roll clouds differ from their counterparts from the previous paragraph in that they are usually associated with a huge parent cloud from above.

23. Kelvin-Helmholtz cirrus clouds


Photo: GRAHAMUK

These thin horizontal spirals dissipate very quickly - almost immediately after their formation, which makes their observation extremely difficult. reminiscent sea ​​waves, these clouds are usually associated with the so-called Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and they form between layers of air with different densities and speeds.

22. Vymeobrazny cloud


Photo: max pixel

These unusual marsupial-shaped clouds form only after a thunderstorm. Contrary to popular belief, they do not portend a tornado or a hurricane, although the false clouds look really intimidating.

21. Pearlescent clouds


Photo: publicdomainpictures.net

In the West, they are also called the "mother of pearl". These clouds occur at altitudes up to 32 kilometers, and they can only be seen in polar latitudes near the poles. Distinctive feature mother-of-pearl clouds, you guessed it - their amazing color.

20. Lenticular cloud-hat


Photo: James St. John / flickr

A cap cloud or scarf cloud usually floats very high in the atmosphere on top of larger cumulonimbus clouds.

19. Radiant clouds


Photo: wikimedia commons

They are difficult to see with the naked eye from Earth, so these clouds are best seen from space. In this satellite photo, you can see that the radiant clouds resemble a giant leaf or wheel, and this makes them stand out from the rest of the clouds very much.

18. Wavy clouds


Photo: David E. McIlroy

These clouds are usually formed by air currents that pass over high places. Most often they occur precisely above the mountain ranges.

17. Pyrocumulative clouds


Photo: Jeremy Greene

Sometimes they are also called fiery clouds. Pyrocumulative clouds appear during fires and during volcanic activity.

16. Mysterious clouds of Undulatus Asperatus


Photo: Agathman

Nine years after their discovery, these strange clouds have finally been recognized as a separate species. This happened quite recently - in 2017, and the decision was made by the International Cloud Atlas of the World Meteorological Organization. This event was the first of its kind since 1951. The uniqueness of Undulatus Asperatus clouds is that they are characterized by wave movements and upwards. The new kind clouds usually form in the lower atmosphere, and it looks pretty creepy.

15. Cumulus Arcus

Thunderstorm collars and shelf clouds can be counted as one general view roll clouds, but there are several other less famous types that deserve their own name. For example, Cumulus Arcus.

14. "Hairy" cumulonimbus clouds Cumulonimbus Capillatus

This subspecies of "umbrellas" is represented by high vertical clouds with a feathery top of a fibrous structure.

13. Cirrus Spissatus Cirrus


Photo: Kr-val

In front of you are the highest cirrus clouds, and they are usually formed from thin crystalline ice plates.

12. Condensation trail


Photo: pixabay

This, of course, is not a natural formation, because in the sky such traces remain precisely from aircraft. This species is technically cirrus, but it belongs to the group of artificial or man-made clouds and is called cirrus aviaticus.

11. Morning glory


Photo: Mick Petrof

Behind it a rare occurrence very difficult to observe due to its unpredictability. Relatively often, morning glory appears only in the north of Australia.

10. Another kind of wavy clouds


Photo: wikimedia commons

These clouds usually fly parallel to each other, but sometimes they can intertwine with each other. It all depends on the currents of the wind.

9. Cirrostratus Nebulosus Cirrostratus


Photo: Eduardo Marquetti

These clouds are formed by updrafts and are difficult to see unless they are illuminated by enough sunlight from the right angle. Cirrostratus Nebulosus usually form a so-called halo - a luminous ring around the sun.

8. Cirrus uncinus cirrus clouds


Photo: Fir0002

From Latin, this name translates approximately as "wavy hooks." They are easily recognizable by their diffuseness in the sky and very thin outlines.

7. Anvil Cumulonimbus (Cumulonimbus Incus)


Photo: TheAustinMan

The upper part of these clouds is flat and shaped like an anvil. Such a cloud easily transforms into a supercell (a type of thundercloud), which portends severe weather, including even hurricanes and tornadoes.

6. Cloud "Punched hole"


Photo: H. Raab (User: Vesta)

In the West, they are also called "hole-piercing" clouds. Such unusual round gaps appear in the sky when the temperature of the water vapor in the clouds drops below zero, but the water has not yet had time to freeze to the state of ice. Very often this phenomenon is mistakenly associated with UFOs.

5. Indoor clouds


Photo: pixabay

It sounds like something unrealistic, but in fact, it is quite possible to create a cloud indoors. There are even several techniques for creating room clouds at once. ideal conditions. Most often they are used for artistic compositions.

4. Lenticular clouds


Photo: Omnisource5

These almost unchanging clouds in the form of giant lenses or hats usually appear when a stream of moist air flies over the top of a mountain range.

3. Cloud "Nuclear Mushroom"

Photo: pixabay

These clouds are most often associated with nuclear weapons, although almost any strong explosion is capable of provoking the occurrence of something like this. For example, a volcanic eruption or a meteorite fall.

2. Cloud Jellyfish (Altocumulus Castelanus)


Photo: NOAA ESRL / wikimedia commons

Own unusual name these clouds are due to their original shape, and they form when moist air gets stuck between layers of drier air currents.

1. Noctilucent clouds


Photo: Gofororbit

This is probably one of the most mysterious types of clouds, and at the same time the highest in the entire atmosphere. Silvery clouds appear at an altitude of about 80 kilometers, that is, almost at the very edge of the earth's atmosphere, where it is already very close to open space. It is possible to observe this phenomenon in the region of the Earth's poles, but for this a number of conditions must coincide. For example, the Sun must be below the horizon, but there must still be enough light to hit the clouds at just the right angle.