Clouds, Clouds, and More Clouds

Paul AdamsProfessor of Physics and Anschutz Professor of Education

Fort Hays State UniversityHays, KS 67601

padams@fhsu.edu

What do we KNOW about clouds?

• Brainstorm in a group of 3 to 5….

WHAT questions do we have about clouds?

Look again at the Atmosphere Layers

What does it take to make a cloud?

A Classic Demonstration with a Twist or a Squeeze!

• Cloud in a Bottle – from AIM• From S’COOL (http://scool.larc.nasa.gov; NB-

2005-05-0002-LaRC)– Take a cold bottle outside on a warm day and notice

that water drops form on it. This is called CONDENSTATION. Clouds from the same way

– Invisible water molecules ride warm air currents and cool as they come in contact with colder air high in the sky. The chilled molecules condense onto tiny particles in the air to form water drops.

– Billions of chilled water drops become visible CLOUDS you can seex!

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What does it take to do a GLOBE study?

• A question or project – – How does cloud cover vary at your school to

nearby schools?– What is weather associated with different

cloud types?– Do the cloud types change over a day?

• CLOUDSAT: A cloud project – http://cloudsat.atmos.colostate.edu/education

We need a place to start

• Defining a study site

• The basic for the GLOBE Cloud Protocol

• Entering the GLOBE Web Site – http://www.globe.gov

• Becoming a GLOBE School-

What did we LEARN?

Links to Resources

• GLOBE

• AIM

• CLOUD

• S’COOL

• MY NASA DATA

• CALIPSO

NLC

• Differences between mesospheric and tropospheric clouds

• Limited to 60o to latitude for NLCs – but an increasing sightings at lower latitudes

• So, how can you study clouds in your classroom?

• GLOBE -

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) Mission

• Aeronomy: A term denoting the physics and chemistry of the upper atmosphere. It is concerned with upper-atmospheric composition (ie, nature of constituents, density, temperature, etc.) and chemical reactions.

• Go to http://aim.hamptonu.edu/index.html

What are NLCs/PMCs….(more later tonight!!)

• NLCs (Noctilucent) appear only during the late spring and summer and can only be seen just after sunset or just before sunrise at 50 to 60 degrees latitude

• First recorded in 1885. • May be occurring more frequently, appearing at

lower latitudes and getting brighter – POSSIBLY due to Global Warming

• Not clear how NLCs form in the first place.

Noctilucent, or Polar Mesospheric Clouds

• NLCs lit by sunlight when the sun is below the horizon; geometry is the key!

• AIM will look down and sample the region where NLCs/PMCs are at and will be visible all of the time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_clouds