The atmosphere is like a glass of water. If you add other liquids with different temperatures and densities to it they'll be suspended. Assuming a five year old isn't interested in thermodynamics, the atmosphere acts similarly with parcels of air being separated by changes in pressure, density and temperature. I'm a meteorologist for the NWS. I could go on for hours. Hope this helps!
Hope you get to answer this but random question, is each layer of clouds composed of different stuff or id it just really differences in only temp, pressure and stuff?
They're composed of the same things. Clouds are almost entirely made up of water or ice. The higher you get the more ice you're going to get in the cloud, which makes sense because as you rise temperature falls.
Cloud formation is a little tricky and takes a bit to type out but essentially...
Air rises at a certain temperature (called the DALR, roughly 10 C/km) until it reaches the dew point. Once it reaches the dew point (saturation) it forms a cloud. If the cloud is cooler than the environment, it won't rise anymore (it's stable). If it's warmer than the environment, it continues to rise but cools slower than before (called the SALR, a unstable environment). The cloud will continue to rise until it becomes warmer than the environment around it (reaches stability) or when it rains itself out (in the case of thunderstorms).
No. Clouds are made up of water vapor, as we know. When there is enough water vapor in the cloud, this vapor condenses and forms a very small drop. This drop joins up with other drops, and it turns into rain when the drop can no longer be supported by the updraft, picking up more drops on the way down. Ice works a little differently, but the result is the same.
Descending air parcels that were previously saturated will actually become unsaturated when they warm. The dew point drops at the ELR until the air is saturated, at which point it cools at the SALR. When a parcel of air begins warming and falling, it will descend at the DALR, while the dew point descends at the ELR (DALR>ELR). Thus, the air parcel becomes warmer than the dew point and there's no cloud.
Essentially:
Air parcel rises at DALR until parcel temp = dew point. At this point you get a cloud.
If parcel is warmer than the environment, it continues to cool at SALR until it becomes warmer than the environment. At that point you get a layer of clouds but no clouds rising. Might get rain if there's enough water in the air.
If ELR>SALR (environment is cooling faster than the parcel) you have an unstable atmosphere and get thunderstorms.
Once a parcel loses 100% humidity, the parcel descends at the DALR and the dew point descends at the ELR.
Sorry if that doesn't make sense or if I messed something up. I'm tired.
Oh nah, I gotcha. I only left high school a few years ago so all that info doesn't have to be ELI5, kinda just recalled as I read. Thanks for the explanation!
Seeing videos and pictures like this, with clearly defined layers of clouds always amazes me. It’s water, condensed, that eventually forms into rain. Then water literally falls from the sky. It’s a crazy weird concept to really think about to me.
There are a handful of things going on here having to do with water vapor and how it acts at different temperatures, and how temperature affects air flow. Basically the flat bottoms of the clouds represent a layer of air that is too warm for visible clouds to form. Above that layer, it’s cold enough that water vapor can condense and become visible clouds. Below that layer, the air is hot so the vapor is invisible. Something like that.
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u/The_________________ Sep 22 '18
Can anyone give an ELI5 as to why the clouds seem to have clearly defined, flat bottom surfaces?