Modu|e - 9

n|gher |eve| c|ouds

1. C|rrus
2. C|rrocumu|us
3. C|rrostratus

M|dd|e |eve| c|ouds

4. A|tocumu|us
S. A|tostratus
6. N|mbostratus

Lower |eve| c|ouds

7. Stratocumu|us
8. Stratus
9. Cumu|us
10. Cumu|on|mbus

SupersaLuraLlon
lf Lhe waLer vapor pressure ln Lhe alr ls !, Lhe
supersaLuraLlon (ln percenL) wlLh respecL Lo
llquld waLer ls [(!"!s) 1]x100, where !s ls Lhe
saLuraLlon vapor pressure over a plane surface
of llquld waLer aL Lhe LemperaLure of Lhe alr.
Var|at|ons of the re|at|ve hum|d|ty and supersaturat|on ad[acent to drop|ets
of (1) pure water (b|ue) and ad[acent to so|ut|on drop|ets conta|n|ng the
fo||ow|ng f|xed masses of sa|t: (2) 10
-19
kg of NaC|, (3) 10
-18
kg of NaC|,
(4) 10
-17
kg of NaC|, (S) 10
-19
kg of (Nn4)2SC4, and (6) 10
-18
kg of (Nn4)2SC4.
koh|er curves

Ior NaC| part|c|e condensat|on,
so|ut|on drop|et wou|d grow
fo||ow|ng red curve. At |ts peak, the
amb|ent supersatura|on |s more
than supersaturat|on ad[acent to
drop|et, hence drop|et cont|nues to
grow at peak and down to the r|ght
s|de of koh|er curve where |t forms a
c|oud drop|et - Act|vated drop|ets

Ior (Nn4)2SC4 part|c|e, so|ut|on drop|et wou|d grow a|ong green curve.
Cnce |t crosses po|nt A, outs|de supersaturat|on becomes |ower than near
drop|et surface supersatura|on, wh|ch resu|t |n vapor|zat|on of drop|et that
br|ng |t back to po|nt A - Unact|vated or naze drop|ets


koh|er curves for so|ut|on drop|ets conta|n|ng 10
-19
kg of NaC| (red curve)
and 10
-19
kg of (Nn4)2SC4 (green curve)
C|oud Condensat|on Nuc|e| (CCN)
CCN are those part|c|es (aeroso|s) suspended |n a|r wh|ch act as nuc|e|
for condensat|on on the|r surface |ead|ng to drop|et format|on.

1hese part|c|es get act|vated and grow by condensat|on to form c|oud
drop|ets at the supersaturat|ons ach|eved |n c|ouds (0.11).

Larger the s|ze of a part|c|e ---> more read||y |t |s wetted by water.
Greater |ts so|ub|||ty ----> |ower w||| be the supersaturat|on at wh|ch the
part|c|e can serve as a CCN.

Ior examp|e, to serve as a CCN at 1 supersaturat|on, comp|ete|y
wettab|e but water-|nso|ub|e part|c|es need to be at |east 0.1 m |n
rad|us, whereas so|ub|e part|c|es can serve as CCN at 1 supersaturat|on
even |f they are as sma|| as 0.01 m |n rad|us.
now c|ouds form ?
C|ouds form |n a|r wh|ch has become supersaturated w|th respect
to ||qu|d water or |ce.

Most common means by wh|ch a|r becomes supersaturated |s
through the ascent accompan|ed by ad|abat|c expans|on and
coo||ng

Vert|ca| mot|ons |n the atmosphere are norma||y much sma||er
than the hor|zonta| mot|ons and the c|ouds are the v|s|b|e
man|festat|ons of such ascend|ng mot|ons

Convect|on and advect|on are the two ma|n mechan|sms of ascent
of an a|r parce|


Iormat|on of C|oud Drop|ets

When the a|r reaches saturat|on, the condensat|on of water
vapor |nto t|ny c|oud drop|ets may beg|n

In order for water vapor to condense, part|c|es |n the
atmosphere ca||ed c|oud condensat|on nuc|e| (CCN) are
requ|red

W|thout CCN, a re|at|ve hum|d|ty of severa| hundred percent
wou|d be needed to keep a t|ny c|oud drop|et from
evaporat|ng away
C|oud Iormat|on Mechan|sms
Convect|ve L|ft|ng |s assoc|ated w|th
surface heat|ng of the a|r at the
ground surface. If enough heat|ng
occurs, the mass of a|r becomes
warmer and ||ghter than the a|r |n the
surround|ng env|ronment, |t beg|ns to
r|se, expand, and coo|.

When suff|c|ent coo||ng has taken
p|ace saturat|on occurs form|ng
c|ouds.

1h|s process |s act|ve |n the |nter|or of
cont|nents and near the equator
form|ng cumu|us c|ouds and]or
cumu|on|mbus c|ouds.

C|ouds of 0.1 to 10 km d|ameters

Crograph|c up||ft occurs
when a|r |s forced to r|se
because of the phys|ca|
presence of e|evated |and.

As the parce| r|ses |t coo|s as
a resu|t of ad|abat|c
expans|on at a rate of
approx|mate|y 10 Ce|s|us
per 1000 meters unt||
saturat|on.

Iorced ||ft|ng of a|r as |t
passes over a h||| or
mounta|n Crograph|c
c|ouds


1h|s c|oud format|on mechan|sm |s
common at the m|d-|at|tudes and
near the equator where the trade
w|nds meet at the |ntertrop|ca|
convergence zone.

Layer c|ouds, more ||fet|me and more
extent - both hor|zonta||y and
vert|ca||y


Convergence or fronta| ||ft|ng takes p|ace when two masses of a|r come
together. In most cases, the two a|r masses have d|fferent temperature and
mo|sture character|st|cs.

Cne of the a|r masses |s usua||y warm and mo|st, wh||e the other |s co|d and
dry.

1he |ead|ng edge of the |atter a|r mass acts as an |nc||ned wa|| or front caus|ng
the mo|st warm a|r to be ||fted. 1he ||ft|ng causes the warm mo|st a|r mass to
coo| due to expans|on resu|t|ng |n saturat|on.

C|ouds by rad|at|ve coo||ng near surface: Iog

Instead, the surface of the Larth now
beg|ns to |ose energy |n the form of
|ongwave rad|at|on wh|ch causes the
ground and a|r above |t to coo|.

1he c|ouds that resu|t from th|s type
of coo||ng take the form of surface
fog.

kad|at|on fog over |and
Advect|on fog over ocean
Later they can become stratus c|oud
when the surface gets warmed
kad|at|ve coo||ng occurs when the sun |s no |onger supp|y|ng energy to the
ground and over|y|ng a|r (e.g., n|ght).
Ia||ure of a C|oud Drop|et
Cont|nenta| c|ouds have a h|gh number of t|ny CCN.

A|| these CCN compete for water vapor and affect the way
the co||ect|on of drop|ets can grow

If the compet|t|on |s h|gh for water vapor, the
supersaturat|on va|ues may not reach the necessary amount
for the drop|ets to cont|nue grow|ng

naze resu|ts when many t|ny CCN part|c|es fa|| to grow any
further





If c|oud |s be|ow 0
o
C |eve| (+ve temperatures), |t conta|ns water
drops and ca||ed !"#$ &'()*

If a c|oud extends above the 0
o
C |eve| |t |s ca||ed a &('* &'()*.

Lven though the temperature may be be|ow 0
o
C, water drop|ets
can st||| ex|st |n c|ouds, |n wh|ch case they are referred to as
+),-#&(('-* *#(,'-.+.

If a co|d c|oud conta|ns both |ce part|c|es and supercoo|ed
drop|ets, |t |s sa|d to be a $/0-* &'()*

If |t cons|sts ent|re|y of |ce, |t |s sa|d to be 1'"&/".-*.
"#$%#&'()&# *+,
Cold Cloud
"#$%#&'()&# -.*+,
ke|at|ve s|zes of c|oud drop|ets and ra|ndrops, # |s the rad|us |n
m|crometers, 2 |s the number per ||ter of a|r, and 3 |s the term|na| fa||
speed |n cent|meters per second.
Growth of a ka|ndrop
1he growLh of a cloud dropleL ls a slow process, and
slmple growLh by condensaLlon ls noL whaL forms
ralndrops

1here are Lwo processes LhaL explaln Lhe formaLlon
of preclplLaLlon-slzed parLlcles:
Colllslon and Coalescence rocess
8ergeron-llndelsen Mechanlsm
Co|||s|on-Coa|escence rocess
1h|s process |s |mportant |n warm c|ouds where the
prec|p|tat|on part|c|es are a|| ||qu|d

Larger drop|ets, hav|ng a h|gher fa|| speed, w||| co|||de w|th
sma||er drops and coa|esce together |nto a b|gger drop

Co|||s|on |s more eff|c|ent as the |arger drop|et |ncreases |n
s|ze

A sma||er drop|et |s more ||ke|y to co|||de w|th a |arger drop
|f the d|fference |n s|ze |s s|gn|f|cant (hav|ng a w|de var|ety of
drop s|zes |n the c|oud |s he|pfu|, as |n the mar|ne
env|ronment)


8ergeron-I|nde|sen Mechan|sm
1h|s process dom|nates |n co|d c|ouds, where we have a|| three phases of
water present: so||d, ||qu|d, and gas

1he saturat|on vapor pressure over |ce |s |ess than the saturat|on vapor
pressure over water

start w|th a water drop|et that |s |n saturated cond|t|ons

When drop|et |s saturated, the condensat|on of water vapor |nto the
drop|et |s ba|anced by the evaporat|on of water off of the drop|et

1he add|t|on of an |ce crysta| nearby w||| be |n a +),-#+".)#".-*
env|ronment

If the |ce crysta| |s |n an env|ronment that |s supersaturated, water vapor
w||| depos|t on the |ce crysta| faster than |t sub||mates off of the |ce
crysta|
Cont

1he water vapor content |n the c|oud w||| drop, and no |onger have
saturated cond|t|ons w|th respect to the ||qu|d water drop

I|nd|ng |tse|f |n subsaturated a|r, the water drop|et has evaporat|on
exceed condensat|on, wh|ch adds water vapor to the c|oud but causes
the drop|et to shr|nk |n s|ze

After evaporat|on of water vapor suff|c|ent to make the cond|t|ons
saturated w|th respect to ||qu|d water once aga|n, the drop|et stops
shr|nk|ng

8ut, we st||| have that |ce crysta| and |t |s st||| |n supersaturated
cond|t|ons

1hrough th|s process, the |ce crysta| w||| grow at the expense of the
||qu|d water drop
8ergeron-I|nde|sen Mechan|sm
Cont
Cther Co|d C|oud rocesses
k|m|ng ls when supercooled waLer dropleLs colllde
wlLh an lce crysLal and lnsLanLly freeze on Lhe lce
crysLal. Pall formaLlon ls due Lo rlmlng.

lce crysLals aL or above -3 C Lend Lo be sLlcky due Lo
a fllm of waLer on Lhe surface. lce crysLals can Lhen
sLlck LogeLher ln a process called aggregat|on.
Lntra|nment |n C|oud
CuLslde alr parcels can enLer lnLo
cloud from Lop

When cloud waLer ls evaporaLed Lo
saLuraLe an enLralned parcel of alr, Lhe
parcel ls cooled, and slnk, mlxlng wlLh
more cloudy alr down.

1he slnklng parcel wlll descend unLll lL
runs ouL of negaLlve buoyancy or
loses lLs ldenLlLy. Such parcels can
descend several kllomeLers ln a cloud,
Lhey are referred Lo as peneLraLlve
downdrafLs
Schemat|c of entra|nment of amb|ent
a|r |nto a sma|| cumu|us c|oud.