Cloud Minibook

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How are they formed? – pg 1

Clouds form when warm, moist air rises, expands and cools in a convection current. As the air reaches its dew point, the water vapor in the air condense around condensation nuclei.

Condensation nuclei are small particles in the atmosphere around which cloud droplets can form.

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Orographic Lifting – pg 2 Clouds can also form when wind encounters a

mountain and the air has no place to go but up.

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Convection clouds – pg 3

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Stability and Latent Heat – pg 4

How rapidly any given mass of air cools determines its stability. Stability is the ability of an air mass to resist rising.

Stored energy is called latent heat.

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How clouds are classified – pg 5

Clouds are generally classified according to a system originally developed by English naturalist Luke Howard in 1803.

Three main types: Cirro, Stratus, and Alto

Visuals and atmospheric height Each cloud type gets it’s own page. Draw AND color OR create each cloud and include the altitude where it can be found

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n Cirrocumulus (pg 6) n Cirrus(pg 7) n Altocumulus(pg 8) n Altostratus(pg 9)

n Stratocumulus(pg 10) n Stratus(pg 11) n Cumulus(pg 12) n Cumulonimbus(pg 13)

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After cloud formation – pg 14

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When cloud droplets collide, they join together to form a large droplet in a process called coalescence.

As the process continues, the droplet

becomes too heavy to be held. Gravity takes over and the droplet fall to earth- precipitation. Either liquid or a solid.