The Sun and Stars Affect Our Everyday Clouds and, Ultimately, Earth’s Energy Budget
Large Effect of Solar Activity on Earth’s Energy Budget This is the result of a new study by researchers from DTU Space at the Technical…
Clouds
Massive Flying Laboratory Uncovers Secrets of How Marine Life Influences Cloud Formation
Ocean Life Helps Produce Clouds, but Existing Clouds Keep New Ones at Bay Stand on the ocean’s shore and take a big whiff of the…
Princeton University Researchers: Planting Forests May Cool the Planet More Than Thought
Princeton University researchers found that greater formation of clouds over forested areas suggests that reforestation would likely be more effective at cooling Earth’s atmosphere than…
Satellites Reveal How Forests Increase Clouds and Cool the Climate
Forests are not only key to moderating our climate by sequestering atmospheric carbon, but they also create a cooling effect by increasing low-level clouds. A…
Electric Blue Streaks: High, Dry, and Rare in the Sky
Noctilucent clouds form so high in the atmosphere that they continue to reflect sunlight hours after sunset, creating a spectacular nighttime display. Clouds illuminated during…
Satellite Observations Show Marine Clouds Amplify Global Warming
A new analysis of satellite cloud observations finds that global warming causes low-level clouds over the oceans to decrease, leading to further warming. The work,…
NASA Super Soaker Mission Seeks to Understand Bright Night-Shining Clouds by Creating One
Since the late 1800s, observers have searched the polar skies for elusive, high-flying clouds that shine in the darkness. These polar mesospheric clouds, or PMCs,…
Mysterious Hovering Clouds Spotted Over the Transantarctic Mountains
Smooth, stationary clouds are occasionally reported by the public as sightings of “unidentified flying objects.” But these clouds are not as mysterious as they might…
New Research Provides a Better Understanding of How Cirrus Clouds Form
New research provides insights into how cirrus clouds form, with implications for agriculture, urban development and climate-change predictions. The study shows that trees and plants…
Breathtaking Night-Shining Clouds: Electric Blue Streaks Form High in the Atmosphere
Every summer in the Northern Hemisphere, electric blue streaks form high in the atmosphere. These seasonal clouds typically lurk about 80 kilometers (50 miles) overhead…
Strange Times Meet Strange Clouds: Noctilucent or “Night Shining” Clouds
Strange times meet strange clouds. Noctilucent or ‘night shining’ clouds (NLC) are captured over Knowlton Church in Dorset, UK, by astrophotographer Ollie Taylor in the…
Unusual “Volcano Track” Clouds Investigated
In 2008, atmospheric scientist Santiago Gassó authored a study that highlighted abnormally bright trails of clouds around remote peaks in the South Sandwich Islands. The…
First Arctic Ice-Blue Noctilucent Clouds of the Season Spotted by NASA’s Aim
Ice-blue clouds are drifting high above the Arctic, which means the Northern Hemisphere’s noctilucent cloud season is here. NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere…
Ice Formation in Clouds Created by Air Turbulence
Scientists from Leipzig measure an important sub-process of the water cycle. Vertical air motions increase ice formation in mixed-phase clouds. This correlation was predicted theoretically…
CubeSat Captures First Global Picture of Small Frozen Particles Inside Clouds
Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from…
Surfer-Shaped Waves Discovered at the Boundaries of Near-Earth Space
Two published papers reveal Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at the boundaries of near-Earth space, showing that they can appear under any conditions and are much more prevalent…
NASA’s AIM Spacecraft Observes Noctilucent Clouds
This composite image shows noctilucent clouds over the Arctic captured by NASA’s Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere Spacecraft. In the late spring and summer,…
Earth’s Clouds are Getting Lower, May be in Response to Global Warming
Researchers analyzed NASA satellite data from 2000 – 2010 and found that the global average cloud height declined by around one percent over the decade,…