Water Vapor and the Atmosphere

1. Water Vapor and the Atmosphere

2. Water in the Atmosphere • Precipitation is any form of water that falls from a cloud. • When it comes to understanding atmospheric processes, water vapor is the most important gas in the atmosphere

3. Water Changes State The three states of matter solid, liquid, and gas (plasma is the fourth)

4. Humidity amount of water vapor in air.

5. Relative Humidity • Ratio of the air’s actual water-vapor content compared with the amount of water vapor air can hold at that temperature and pressure. • Lowering air temperature causes an increase in relative humidity • Raising air temperature causes a decrease in relative humidity

6. Dew Point Dew point is the temperature to which a parcel of air would need to be cooled to reach saturation.

7. How do I measure humidity? • Instrument: Hygrometer • Psychrometer : a type of hygrometer consisting of two identical thermometers mounted side by side • Dry bulb: give the present air temperature • Wet bulb: has thin wet wick tied around the end

8. Cloud Formation Clouds form when air is cooled to its dew point

9. Clouds Clouds are classified on the basis of their form and height.

10. Three Types of Clouds Cirrus (cirrus = curl of hair) high, white, and thin Cumulus (cumulus = a pile) rounded individual cloud masses that have a flat base and the appearance of rising domes or towers Stratus (stratus = a layer) best described as sheets or layers that cover much or all of the sky

11. Classification of Clouds by Height High Clouds • Have bases above 6000 meters • Cirrus: high, white and thin • Cirrostratus: flat layers • Cirrocumulus: fluffy masses

12. Middle Clouds (Alto) • Have bases between 2000 and 6000 meters • Altocumulus: rounded masses that are larger and denser than cirrocumulus clouds • Altostratus: uniform white to grayish sheet covering the sky with the sun or moon visible as a bright spot

13. Low Clouds • Have bases below 2000 meters • Stratus: uniform layer of clouds that covers much of the sky • Stratocumulus: scalloped bottom that appears as long parallel rolls or broken rounded patches • Nimbostratus: grayish clouds covering most of the sky often producing precipitation • Cumulonimbus: cloud covering all three height producing thunderstorms

14. Fog • A cloud with its base at or very near the ground.

15. How Does Precipitation Form? For precipitation to form, cloud droplets must grow in volume by roughly one million times.

16. Forms of Precipitation • The type of precipitation that reaches Earth’s surface depends on the temperature profile in the lower few km of the atmosphere • Rain: drops of water that fall from a cloud and have a diameter of at least 0.5 mm • Snow: light, fluffy,six-sided ice crystals

17. Forms of Precipitation • Sleet: fall of small particles of clear to translucent ice • Glaze: when raindrops become supercooled as they fall through subfreezing air and turns to ice when they impact objects • Hail: form of solid precipitation which consists of balls of irregular lumps of ice produced in cumulonimbus clouds