What is the difference between low and high clouds?

High clouds are often thin and do not reflect very much. The main difference between high and low clouds is that the high clouds are colder. This means that they radiate less energy into space than the lower, warmer clouds. Therefore, high clouds work to “trap” more energy than the low clouds.

How does the altitude affect clouds?

The base of the cloud forms at the altitude at which the rising air cools and condensation starts. However, rising air remains warmer than the surrounding air and continues to rise. As it rises, more vapor condenses, forming the billowing columns.

What are low altitude clouds called?

stratus
Low clouds (stratus, stratocumulus, nimbostratus) can form anywhere from the ground to an altitude of approximately 6,000 feet. Fog is simply a low cloud in contact with the earth’s surface.

How are clouds classified altitude?

In addition to standardizing the genus-species system, the WMO also classified clouds by altitude and divided the troposphere into 3 levels: Low-level Clouds: < 6,500 ft. Mid-level Clouds: 6,500 to 23,000 ft. High-level Clouds: 16,500 to 45,000 ft.

What does high cloud mean?

High-level clouds occur above about 20,000 feet and are given the prefix “cirro.” Due to cold tropospheric temperatures at these levels, the clouds primarily are composed of ice crystals, and often appear thin, streaky, and white (although a low sun angle, e.g., near sunset, can create an array of color on the clouds).

Which clouds are highest in the sky?

Noctilucent cloud

• Noctilucent clouds, or night shining clouds, are tenuous cloud-like phenomena in the upper atmosphere of Earth.
• They are the highest clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, located in the mesosphere at altitudes of around 76 to 85 km (249,000 to 279,000 ft).

How does low altitude affect climate?

As you increase in elevation, there is less air above you thus the pressure decreases. As the pressure decreases, air molecules spread out further (i.e. air expands), and the temperature decreases. The temperature in the troposphere — the lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere — generally decreases with altitude.

What are high clouds called?

High-level clouds (cirrus, cirrocumulus, cirrostratus) that form above 20,000 feet (6,096 m) Cumulonimbus, which tower across the low, middle, and upper atmosphere.

What are tall clouds called?

Cumulonimbus (from Latin cumulus, “heaped” and nimbus, “rainstorm”) is a dense, towering vertical cloud, forming from water vapor carried by powerful upward air currents. If observed during a storm, these clouds may be referred to as thunderheads.

How do scientists classify clouds?

Scientists classify clouds by how high they are in the sky (low, medium or high), and by whether they are flat (stratus), puffy (cumulus), rain-filled (nimbus), or a combination of these characteristics. Saucer-shaped lenticular clouds are common in mountainous regions of the world.

What is a low cloud?

Low clouds occur below 6500 feet, and normally consist of liquid water droplets or even supercooled droplets, except during cold winter storms when ice crystals (and snow) comprise much of the clouds.