Day 1: LEARN SOMETHING EVERYDAY
Tonight I was wondering about clouds. I have this great little encyclopedia at my desk and it has a weather section. Here are the questions I set out to answer, and their answers, with a little help from Google!
How do clouds form?
According to NASA’s Kid Science News Network, “clouds form when water vapor condenses (changes from a vapor to a liquid) around condensation particles (such as dirt, dust, and smoke).”
What are the different types of clouds? (My favorite is altocumulus)
1. Cirrus (wispy)
2. Stratus (layered)
3. Cumulus (heaped)
4. Nimbus (rain bearing)
Cirrus: wispy, white or grey
Cirrostratus: high, layered and nearly transparent
Cirrocumulus: thin, white ribbed layer
Altoculumulus: white or grey heaped cloud
Cumulonimbus: towering cloud with anvil head that brings thunderstorms
Altostratus: white or grey sheets, less dense than stratus
Nimbostratus: dark thick layer that brings rain or snow
Cumulus: individual clouds with dark, even bases and white fluffy tops that bring rain.
Stratocumulus: white layers with wave-like patterns.
Stratus: low layer that brings rain or snow.
Why are clouds white?
Old Dominion University in Virginia says that, “in much the same way as why skies are blue, clouds are white because their water droplets or ice crystals are large enough to scatter the light of the seven wavelengths, which combine to produce white light. Clouds will appear dark or gray when either they are in another clouds shadow or the top of a cloud casts a shadow upon its own base.
The darkness of a cloud also depends on the background sky. A cloud will look darker when it is surrounded by a bright sky and lighter when it is in front of darker ones. Not always will a dark cloud mean rain.”
Do clouds cause airplane turbulence? Turbulence scares me.
A masked man on Answerbag.com posted that, “Clouds are more dense than air, so they generate more lift on your wings. Because the water vapor in a cloud is not evenly distributed, you are flying through areas of increasing and decreasing density, which yields flight turbulence.”
What is “virga”? I almost accidently wrote “viagra.”
According to the Clouds Glossary, virga is “rain that turns back into water vapor before reaching the ground.”
Are there aliens in lenticular clouds? I want proof!
Wikipedia thinks not. “Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. If the temperature at the crest of the wave drops to or below the dewpoint, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. . The clouds have been mistaken for UFOs (or “visual cover” for UFOs) because these clouds have a characteristic lens appearance and smooth saucer-like shape.”
How do contrails form? How did I know what a contrail was?
The National Weather Service says that, “A contrail is the condensation trail that is left behind by a passing jet plane. Contrails form when hot humid air from jet exhaust mixes with environmental air of low vapor pressure and low temperature.” Carl Wozniak says that, “If the air is close to 100% humidity, the added vapor from the engine’s exhaust can give it just the push to make clouds of ice crystals.The shorter the contrail, the drier the air.”
Contrail is a combo of the words “condensation” and “trail.” Now I’m hip to the lingo.
So what is fog, really?
Once again the Clouds Glossary can answer this one: “A cloud on the ground.” Thanks, cloud glossary.
Websites Used
http://sci.odu.edu/sci/Scire/05Edition/whitecloud.html
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1200644
http://ksnn.larc.nasa.gov/k2/s_cloudsForm_a.html
http://www.carlwozniak.com/clouds/glossary.html#u
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenticular_cloud
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/fgz/science/contrail.php?wfo=fgz
…and mad props to the Running Press Cyclopedia: The Portable Visual Encyclopedia! And don’t worry, I don’t write school papers this annotated or with improper citations, I just know it’s getting late for me and all the information is there! Then again, I don’t really write research papers at the school I’m at right now.
