![]() The high energy levels of these storm systems typically make them hazardous due to associated heavy precipitation, lightning, high wind speeds and possible tornadoes. The image, taken while the International Space Station was located over western Africa near the Senegal-Mali border, shows a fully formed anvil cloud with numerous smaller cumulonimbus towers rising near it. The photo was taken from a viewpoint that was at an angle from the vertical, rather than looking straight down towards the Earth’s surface. Anvils usually top out at 10-12 km altitude, but they can reach as high as 16-18 km close to the equator. An anvil top indicates a very strong updraft, the strongest among the Cumulonimbus species. The cloud tops flatten and spread into an anvil shape, as illustrated by this astronaut photograph. Cumulonimbus capillatus incus (anvil-top) is a cumulonimbus cloud that has developed the characteristic flat, anvil-top form. The tropopause halts further upward motion of the cloud mass. ![]() Their net impact on the climate system depends on how much time they spend in their cooling and warming stages. Beyond the tropopause, the air no longer gets colder as altitude increases. Tropical thunderstorms generate expansive cloud systems (anvil clouds) that initially exert a cooling effect but evolve over time to produce a warming effect. The tropopause is characterized by a strong temperature inversion. If enough moisture is present to condense and heat the cloud mass through several convective cycles, a tower can rise to altitudes of approximately 10 kilometers at high latitudes and to 20 kilometers in the tropics before encountering a region of the atmosphere known as the tropopause-the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. This leads to the characteristic vertical “towers” associated with cumulonimbus clouds, an excellent example of which is visible in this astronaut photograph. This type of convection is common in tropical latitudes year-round and during the summer season at higher latitudes.Īs water in the rising air mass condenses and changes from a gas to a liquid state, it releases energy to its surroundings, further heating the surrounding air and leading to more convection and rising of the cloud mass to higher altitudes. The air mass itself also expands and cools as it rises due to decreasing atmospheric pressure, a process known as adiabatic cooling. ![]() They almost make the cloud look as if it has veins. ![]() Surface air is warmed by the Sun-heated ground surface and rises if sufficient atmospheric moisture is present, water droplets will condense as the air mass encounters cooler air at higher altitudes. However, it is characterized by one or more channels that seem to crawl upon the underside of the anvil. 2008) Perhaps the most impressive of cloud formations, cumulonimbus (from the Latin for “pile” and “rain cloud”) clouds form due to vigorous convection (rising and overturning) of warm, moist, and unstable air. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |