The Water Cycle …….and its contribution to clouds

The Water Cycle…….and its contribution to

cloudsBy me

Ryan Rice

Three states of water matter •Solid•Liquid•Gas To change state, heat must be•Absorbed, or•Released

Heat energy •Measured in calories – one calorie is the heat necessary to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius

Latent heatStored or hidden heat Not derived from temperature change Important in atmospheric processes

Processes •Evaporation

Liquid is changed to gas •Condensation

Water vapor (gas) is changed to a liquid •Melting

Solid is changed to a liquid •Freezing

Liquid is changed to a solid •Sublimation

Solid is changed directly to a gas •Deposition

Water vapor (gas) changed to a solid (e.g., frost in a freezer compartment)

Clouds Made of millions and millions of

minute water droplets, or tiny crystals of ice

Classification based on form

Cirrus Cumulus

Stratus

•Classification based on Height

•High clouds – above 6,000 meters

Types include cirrus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus

•Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters

Types include altostratus and altocumulus

•Low clouds – below 2,000 meters

Types include stratus,

Classification based on Height

High clouds – above 6,000 meters

Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters

Low clouds – below 2,000 meters

Cirrus Clouds The most common form of high-level clouds are thin and often wispy. Typically found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), Cirrus clouds are composed of ice crystals that originate from the freezing of super cooled water droplets. Generally occur in fair weather and point in the direction of air movement at their elevation.

Cumulus Clouds The Cotton Balls in the SkyLow clouds – below 2,000 meters

can form low as 300 ft Types include stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus (nimbus means “rainy”) Cumulus clouds are formed as a result of the process of convection, wherein warm air rises in the atmosphere and eventually cools down.

Clouds of vertical developmentFrom low to high altitudes areCalled Cumulonimbus Often/ most of the time, produce rain showers and thunderstorms

Stratus – sheets or layers that cover much of the sky

Middle clouds – 2,000 to 6,000 meters

At dusk, colors are gray or blue-gray, composed of ice crystals and water droplets

Altostratus clouds

Adiabatic temperature changes occur whenAir is compressed

Motion of air molecules increases

Air will warm Descending air is compressed

due to increasing air pressure Air expands

Air will cool Rising air will expand due to

decreasing air pressure

Adiabatic heating/cooling

•Adiabatic rates Dry adiabatic rate

•Unsaturated air•Rising air expands and cools at 1˚C per 100 meters (5.5˚F per 1,000 feet) •Descending air is compressed and warms at 1˚C per 100 meters

Wet adiabatic rate •Commences at condensation level •Air has reached the dew point•Condensation is occurring and latent heat is being liberated •Heat released by the condensing water reduces the rate of cooling•Rate varies from 0.5˚C to 0.9˚C per 100 meters

Wet rate is less.Wet rate is less…

Latent heat is released when Water vapor condenses

Processes that lift airVery important for weather: lifted air cools adiabatically and condenses to form clouds. Lifting is generally required to produce precipitation.Orographic lifting

•Elevated terrains act as barriers•Result can be a rain shadow desert

Frontal wedging•Cool air acts as a barrier to warm air •Fronts are part of the storm systems called middle-latitude cyclones

Convergence Where the air is flowing together and rising (low

pressure)Localized convective lifting

•Localized convective lifting occurs where unequal surface heating causes pockets of air to rise because of their buoyancy

Orographic lifting

Frontal Wedging

FRONTS

Boundary that separates air masses of different densities•Air masses retain their identities •Warmer, less dense air forced aloft •Cooler, denser air acts as wedge

•Warm frontWarm air replaces cooler airSmall slope (1:200)Clouds become lower as the front nearsSlow rate of advanceLight-to-moderate precipitation

•Cold frontCold air replaces warm airTwice as steep (1:100) as warm frontsAdvances faster than a warm frontAssociated weather is more violent than a warm front

•Intensity of precipitation is greater•Duration of precipitation is shorter

Fog: fog is like clouds in that both are formed by condensation of water vapor from the air. Unlike clouds, fog commonly forms by radioactive cooling rather than by adiabatic cooling (cooling accompanying lifting)

Types of fog•Fogs caused by cooling

Advection fog – warm, moist air moves over a cool surface: e.g. the California marine layer: warm most air moves over the cold California current; the cooling leads to condensation and fog formation.Radiation fog

•Earth’s surface cools rapidly•Forms during cool, clear, calm nights San Joaquin Valley tulle fog!!

Upslope fog •Humid air moves up a slope•Adiabatic cooling occurs (like cloud formation)

Contrails…what are they?

Contrails or vapor trails are condensation trails and artificial cirrus clouds made by the exhaust of aircraft engines or wingtip vortices which precipitate a stream of tiny ice crystals in moist, frigid upper air. However, contrails generated by engine exhaust are inevitably linked with typical fuel combustion pollutants. Contrails might also be considered visual pollution.

September 11, 2001 climate impact study.

It had been hypothesized that in regions such as the United States with heavy air traffic, contrails affected the weather, reducing solar heating during the day and radiation of heat during the night by increasing the Albedo.

Measurements did show that without contrails the local diurnal temperature range was about 1 degree Celsius higher than immediately before;

History Channel Documentary Validates Chemtrails and Weather Warfare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVjI-0uA9L8&feature=related

Lets watch a movie……

Ahh finally…the CONCLUSION

The Earth’s climate has many drivers that influence its behavior. The most abundant one on the earth’s surface is Water. Water moves around the earth in many different processes, any where from Evaporation and Condensation to freezing and melting. All of these processes either release or absorb heat. When this heat is released, very intense storm systems. Clouds are formed when millions and millions of ice crystals come together.

Work Cited Warming and the Future of Humanity”. 2008. Book Surge p\Publishing, USA Crystal Link/ Contrails/ Chemtrails. http://www.crystalinks.com/chemtrails.html Hayden c. Howard. “ A Primer on CO2 and Climate second edition”. 2008. Vales Lake Publishing Weather Forecasting Cloud Chart. http://web2.airmail.net/danb1/clouds.htm 2009 Pearson Prentice Hall Inc. Earth Science 12th edition; Tarbuck and Lutgens Windows to the Universe. “ Global Warming, Clouds and Albedo”. http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/climate/warming_clouds_albedo_feedback.html

“The Scale of the Universe” Stumble Upon. http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1FrxcM/www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/525347