cloud
Sign in to savealt=|thumb|upright=1.5|Cloudscape over Borneo, taken by the [[International Space Station]]
AI overview
A cloud is a visible collection of water droplets or ice crystals that forms in the atmosphere when water vapor condenses, typically appearing as white or gray masses in the sky. Clouds are important because they play a key role in Earth's weather and climate by storing and moving water around the planet, reflecting sunlight, and trapping heat.
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Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- Weather
- Material used
- ice crystal
- Image
- Clouds in the sky and sun.jpg
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- P910
- Category:Clouds
- P5008
- WikiProject Climate change (2022)
- P1542
- sun dog
- P2579
- nephology
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Article
45 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Homospheric nomenclatures and cross-classification
- History of cloud science
- Formation
- Adiabatic cooling
- Non-adiabatic cooling
- Adding moisture to the air
- Tropospheric classification
- Levels and genera
- High-level
- Mid-level
- Low-level
- Multi-level or moderate vertical
- Towering vertical
- Species
- Stable or mostly stable
- Ragged
- Partly unstable
- Unstable or mostly unstable
- Varieties
- Opacity-based
- Pattern-based
- Combinations
- Other types
- Precipitation-based supplementary features
- Cloud-based supplementary features
- Accessory clouds
- Mother clouds
- Other genitus and mutatus clouds
- Large scale patterns
- Stratocumulus fields
- Vortex streets
- Distribution
- Convergence along low-pressure zones
- Divergence along high pressure zones
- Luminance, reflectivity, and coloration
- Effects
- Stratospheric classification and distribution
- Mesospheric classification and distribution
- Extraterrestrial
- In culture and religion
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
alt=|thumb|upright=1.5|Cloudscape over Borneo, taken by the [[International Space Station]]
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, ice crystals, or other particles, suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water, primarily, comprises the droplets and crystals. On Earth, clouds are formed as a result of saturation of the air when it is cooled to its dew point, or when it gains sufficient moisture, usually in the form of water vapor, from an adjacent source to raise the dew point to the ambient temperature.