Clouds are visible accumulations of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the Earth’s atmosphere. They form when air containing water vapor is cooled to its dew point or when it gains sufficient humidity from evaporation. The formation, shape, and characteristics of clouds depend on the local atmospheric conditions, such as air temperature, humidity, and wind. Clouds are categorized into various types based on their altitude, shape, and size. For example, high-altitude clouds include cirrus and cirrostratus, while mid-altitude clouds are represented by altocumulus and nimbostratus, and low-altitude clouds include stratus and cumulus. Clouds play a critical role in Earth’s climate system by regulating the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth’s surface and the heat that is radiated back into space. They are also central to the water cycle, aiding in the distribution of water resources around the planet through precipitation.
NASA citizen scientists collected thousands of photographs and temperature readings that are being used to study the relationship between total solar eclipses and clouds. For…
Over the course of nearly two decades, its powerful radar provided never-before-seen details of clouds and helped advance global weather and climate predictions. CloudSat, a…
A new study significantly reduces uncertainty about cloud impact on global warming, finding anvil clouds less influential than expected. New analysis based on simple equations…
Scientists speculated about these holes for decades, but it’s now well understood that cavum clouds are caused by airplanes. Cavum clouds, also called hole-punch clouds…
EarthCARE, the European Space Agency’s advanced satellite mission, is set to revolutionize our understanding of the climate system by exploring the interactions between clouds, aerosols,…
An international team of scientists from Sweden, Norway, Japan, and Switzerland, has presented research findings that reveal a crucial role of biological particles, including pollen,…
Researchers from Japan examine the presence of microplastics in cloud water and their contribution to climate change. Plastic particles less than 5 mm in size…
As part of the international CLOUD project at the nuclear research center CERN, researchers at PSI have identified so-called sesquiterpenes – gaseous hydrocarbons that are…
Once limited to higher latitudes, polar mesospheric clouds are becoming brighter and more visible over mid-latitudes. An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took…
NASA is launching a mission to study high-altitude ice clouds using two CubeSats equipped with the Polarized Submillimeter Ice-cloud Radiometer (PolSIR). The objective is to…
How do clouds shape the planet’s future? Clouds are not just fluffy white shapes in the sky. They are vital for regulating the earth’s climate,…
An airborne campaign has helped to unravel some of the mysteries of clouds. In 2020, Dr. Raphaela Vogel and an international team from the University…
Cloud study clarifies the effects of aerosols. According to a recent study, aerosol particles in the atmosphere have a greater influence on cloud cover than…
A massive, early season wildfire that continues to burn in northern New Mexico generated a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. The Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak fire continued to rage…
Two eye-catching cloud types—flower-shaped actinoform and spiraling von Kármán vortices—popped up off the coast of Chile in March. Some of the first features that scientists…
What Are Clouds and Aerosols? Clouds are an essential part of the Earth’s climate. Clouds block the sun and shade the ground, cooling the planet’s…
Scientists have provided new insights into how intense thunderstorms drive the injection of water vapor from the troposphere — the atmospheric layer closest to Earth’s…
Moist ocean air and steady winds pile up thunderheads and anvil clouds around Indonesia. An astronaut onboard the International Space Station shot this panoramic, west-looking…