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Chapter 5.

Chapter 5. Forms of Condensation & Precipitation. Forms of Condensation & Precipitation. Condensation occurs when water changes from vapor to liquid, to produce dew, fog or clouds The air must be saturated

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Chapter 5.

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  1. Chapter 5. Forms of Condensation & Precipitation

  2. Forms of Condensation & Precipitation Condensation occurs when water changes from vapor to liquid, to produce dew, fog or clouds The air must be saturated There must be a surface on which condensation can occur - e.g. blades of grass (dew) and condensation nuclei

  3. Forms of Condensation & Precipitation - 2 Condensation nuclei - microscopic dust particles, smoke, salt particles Need condensation nuclei in order to get condensation when RH is about 100% The most effective nuclei are hygroscopic (water absorbent) - e.g., crystals of sulfates & nitrates Cloud formation depends on adiabatic cooling as a parcel of air ascends (adiabatic = no heat added or lost)

  4. Condensation Trails (aircraft contrails) Consist of ice crystals Form above 9 km, where the air temperature is -50C Engine exhausts contain hot humid air and condensation nuclei such as sulfates Trails last longer if the air is nearly saturated, and there are no strong winds Trails do not start immediately behind the engines – why?

  5. Clouds Clouds are visible aggregates of minute droplets of water or tiny crystals of ice Cloud classification by form : cirrus, cumulus, stratus Cloud classification by height:high (bases above 6000 m), middle (2000 to 6000 m), low (below 2000m), clouds of vertical development (more than one height range)

  6. Clouds - 2 High clouds - cirrus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus; not usually precipitation makers Middle clouds - altocumulus, altostratus Low clouds - stratus, stratocumulus, nimbostratus (rain clouds)

  7. Cirrus

  8. Cirrostratus

  9. Cirrocumulus

  10. Altocumulus

  11. Altostratus

  12. Nimbostratus

  13. Summer cumulus

  14. Clouds - 3 Clouds of vertical development - cumulus (fair weather), cumulonimbus (storm clouds) Lenticular clouds often form on leeward side of mountains

  15. Lenticular Cloud

  16. Fog Fog is a cloud with its base at or very near the ground Fogs can be formed by cooling the air, or by adding water vapor

  17. Fogs caused by Cooling Condensation produces fog when the temperature of the layer of air in contact with the ground falls below its dew point Radiation fog - results from radiation cooling of ground & adjacent air Radiation fog occurs at night under clear skies Radiation fog is thickest in valleys (cold air), burns off 1 to 3 hours after sunrise

  18. Fogs caused by Cooling - 2 Advection fog - caused when warm moist air passes over a cold surface Advection fogs are frequently very thick Upslope Fog - created when relatively humid air moves up a gradually sloping plain, or steep slopes of mountains

  19. Radiation Fog

  20. Advection Fog

  21. Science & Serendipity

  22. Occurrence of Fog Fig 5-12 shows average number of days per year with fog. Pacific Northwest, California, New England Cold ocean climates lower the temperature of the air, increasing the RH to 100%, so water vapor condenses out

  23. Heavy fog days/year

  24. Fogs formed by Evaporation Evaporation fogs are caused by the addition of water vapor Two types - steam fog & frontal (precipitation) fog If cool air moves over warm water, enough water may evaporate to saturate the air immediately above. As the rising vapor meets the cold air, it condenses - steam fog

  25. Fogs … by Evaporation - 2 Steam fog is common over lakes & rivers when the water is warm and the air is cold When frontal wedging occurs, warm air is lifted over cold air. If the resulting clouds yield rain, and the cold air below it is near the dew point, enough rain can evaporate to produce frontal or precipitation fog

  26. Steam Fog

  27. Dew & Frost Dew is water vapor condensed on objects that have radiated enough energy to drop their temperature below the dew point of the air White frost forms when the dew point of the air is below freezing

  28. How Precipitation Forms Cloud droplets are very small - 20 μm. Numerous condensation nuclei share the available water vapor Because they are small, cloud droplets fall very slowly. Probably evaporate. Raindrops have diameters around 2000 μm (2 mm)

  29. How Precipitation Forms - 2 To form a raindrop, cloud droplets must increase by a million times to produce "massive" rain drops "Massive" rain drops are formed by the Bergeron process and by collision-coalescence

  30. The Bergeron Process The Bergeron process is the process by which ice crystals attract water droplets, thereby becoming large enough to produce rain.

  31. Bergeron Process - 2 Process relies on two properties of water One - Pure water suspended in air does not freeze until the temperature drops to -40C. However, supercooled water droplets will freeze on contact with particles that have a form closely resembling that of ice Two - The saturated vapor pressure above ice crystals is somewhat lower than above supercooled liquid droplets (basically because ice is solid), so ice crystals attract more water vapor than the liquid droplets, and grow faster

  32. Bergeron Process - 3 Water in the liquid state at temperatures below 0C is called supercooled. Supercooled water droplets condense on what are called freezing nuclei. Freezing nuclei are much less numerous than condensation nuclei. Second important property of water - the SVP above ice crystals is somewhat lower than above supercooled liquid droplets (because ice is solid)

  33. Bergeron Process - 4 Thus when air is saturated wrt liquid droplets, it is supersaturated Ice crystals therefore collect more water molecules than they lose by sublimation, and grow bigger - and so we get precipitation For the Bergeron process to work, at least the upper portions of clouds must be cold enough to produce ice crystals. Mostly occurs at mid-latitudes

  34. Precipitation from Warm Clouds Collision-Coalescence Large droplets(>20 μm) formed when "giant" condensation nuclei (such as sea salt) are present, or when hygroscopic particles exist. Large droplets fall faster than small droplets, and add to their size as they fall by colliding and coalescing with the small droplets. Because they get larger, they fall faster, etc.

  35. Precipitation from Warm Clouds Collision-Coalescence - 2 If the drops get too big, they are broken up because of air resistance, and the smaller drops start the process over again. Process is most efficient over the tropical oceans. There are fewer condensation nuclei, so each drop can pick up more of the smaller droplets, and thus grow larger.

  36. Forms of Precipitation - 1 Cloudbursts - unusually heavy rainfall Drizzle - fine uniform drops of water with a diameter less than 0.5 mm Mist - precipitation containing the very smallest droplets able to reach the ground Virga - Rain evaporates before it hits the ground

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