Introduction
This essay details various topics, including the water cycle, a series of physical stages involving processes. Moreover, these procedures pertain to where water is changed from liquid to gas. However, the essay enlightens the ten cloud systems and, ultimately, sheds light on the weather, which is a fundamental aspect of the atmosphere, including its 100 types, and some of them are windy, sunny, snow, and tornadoes.
Hydrological Cycle
The hydrological cycle is the endless circulation of water from aquatic bodies such as oceans, lakes, and glaciers, among others, simultaneously through soil and rocks and into the atmosphere. The process undergoes various physical stages, back to the land in the form of rain and again to the ocean in surface runoff. According to Koutsoyiannis (2020), it entails when the physical state of water is changed from liquid to gas by evaporation. Therefore, the change process exchanges 600 calories of heat per gram of water (Koutsoyiannis, 2020). However, solar radiation, vapor pressure, air temperature, wind, and atmospheric pressure affect natural evaporation. Moreover, raindrops, oceans, and lakes may evaporate, and the process may form on plants, dirt, rocks, and snow.
Further, the process proceeds when water vapor changes from gas to liquid by condensation. Fog, dew, and clouds arise when water vapor condenses on airborne particles. Sea salts, lightning-caused atmospheric ions, and sulfurous and nitrous acid-containing combustion products generate clouds. Condensation is caused by chilling the air or saturating it with vapor. Moreover, when all forms of water reach the Earth’s surface by precipitation process. Precipitation may fall into the water or onto land then it is distributed. Water may attach to or near the planet’s surface or be moved across the land into water courses and infiltrate the soil. Some of the running groundwater is intercepted by vegetation (Koutsoyiannis, 2020). Additionally, water goes into the infiltration process; thus, they are stored in the soil. Thenceforth, water is percolated deep inside the soil layers by gravity and capillary pull, which plants use during uptake. Later, through the process of transpiration, the water is lost via the leaves to the atmosphere. Furthermore, runoff occurs when water drains through surface streams into its final stage, storing it in masses.
Clouds Types
Typically, there are over a hundred different varieties of clouds. The many variants, however, may be categorized into.
Cumulonimbus: Cumulonimbus clouds are formed by convection, often by the expansion of tiny cumulus clouds over a heated surface. They mimic cumulus clouds from whence they originate, but they develop into towers with cauliflower-like top sections (Nomokonova et al., 2019). They occur across the whole troposphere and are often identified by their anvil-shaped, frosty apex and are connected with severe weather
Cirrostratus: Cirrostratus cloud may develop as a consequence of air slowly ascending. Cirrostratus often forms at the front edge of frontal weather systems, and its motions may be utilized to forecast the weather. Consisting of ice crystals and creating a veil covering all or a portion of the sky.
Cirrocumulus: Cirrocumulus clouds are characterized by tiny size, white, and a tendency to form in rows. These clouds are found at higher elevations and are composed of ice crystals. Because cirrocumulus cloudlets are often comprised of ice and water that has been cooled, water is still a liquid even when the temperature is considerably below Zero Celsius.
Cirrus: Cirrus clouds are characterized by their fine, wispy, and snowy appearance, and they move across the horizon in a zigzagging pattern. The ascent of dry air causes the little quantity of water vapor in the air to condense into ice, producing cirrus clouds. Cirrus is composed only of ice crystals, which give them their white color and a wide range of shapes and sizes.
Altostratus: Altostratus appears as gray or bluish-gray sheets of cloud that partly or entirely blanket the sky at mid-levels, and they are seen as softly lighted disks behind them when viewed. Altostratus strata frequently consist of water and ice and usually are formed when a layer of cirrostratus falls from a higher level.
Nimbostratus: Nimbostratus clouds blanket the sky in a coating of dark gray. They may stretch from the lower and intermediate atmospheric levels and are dense enough to obscure the Sun. Nimbostratus clouds arise when an altostratus cloud deepens and thickens, typically along warm or occluded fronts. These clouds are often followed by persistent mild rain after minimum precipitation.
Altocumulus: Common altocumulus cloud characteristics include white or gray patches that dot the sky in big, spherical masses that are aligned in parallel bands. Altocumulus clouds may arise in various ways, including the breakdown of altostratus and lifting moist air pockets cooled by moderate turbulence. It is the production of cloud-forming atmospheric waves by steep topography.
Stratocumulus: Stratocumulus clouds are low-level clusters or patches that range in color from brilliant white to dark grey. Typically, stratocumulus clouds originate from the fragmentation of a stratus cloud layer. They indicate a shift in the weather and are often seen near a warm, cold, or opaque front.
Stratus: Stratus clouds are a low-lying, homogeneous, featureless layer of grey clouds. They resemble the mist that envelops the skyline. In tranquil, stable circumstances, stratus clouds develop when moderate breezes lift cool, wet air over colder land or ocean surfaces. Stratus often provide little to no precipitation or sometimes create a slight drizzle.
Cumulus: Cumulus clouds are rounded, puffy, and a bright white when sunlight, while their bottoms are flat and somewhat dark. All cumulus clouds grow due to convection. As air heated at the surface is raised, it cools, and water vapor condenses to generate the cloud, which mostly implies pleasant weather.
Weather Types
The condition of the atmosphere is referred to as the weather. Latitude, altitude, as well as the local and regional topography all, have an impact on the weather. Moreover, most weather on Earth happens in the troposphere, or lower atmosphere, and is controlled by the Sun’s energy and the Earth’s rotation. There are Over 100 types of weather conditions that are influenced by air pressure, wind speed, direction, temperature, amount of precipitation, cloud cover, and relative humidity. Such may include rainy, sunny, cloudy, overcast, and tornadoes.
Windy: Weather Type 05
The wind is airflow induced by the Sun’s unequal warming of the Earth. When there is a great deal of warm circulating air over the surface of the Earth, the weather is said to be windy. The phenomena usually result from abrupt temperature alterations, which produce the atmosphere’s gases to move erratically to maintain equilibrium. During the day, the mountain’s temperature increases while the ground temperature decreases. This causes the air currents to switch to achieve an equilibrium between the two temperatures. Hence, it results in the hot or warm wind and intense wind near beaches, mountains, and bodies of water.
Snow: Weather Type 18
Snowflakes are generated by ice crystals that typically have a hexagonal structure and are frequently exquisitely detailed. As crystals form, their size and shape are determined mainly by the temperature and quantity of accessible water vapor. At conditions below 40 °C (40 °F), ice crystals develop spontaneously from water vapor, but at temperatures over 40 °C (40 °F), they generate around tiny particles of debris or chemical compounds that are suspended in the air. When humid air is humid, crystals grow fast, form branches, and produce snowflakes.
Tornadoes: Weather Type 61
Tornadoes are fast-spinning air columns; this phenomenon’s intensity affects its danger; moreover, the Fuji Scale measures tornado strength. Furthermore, when humid air meets cold, dry air, tornadoes form. Over warmer air, typically thunderstorms, colder, denser air is driven. Warm air lifts mild air, forming a jetstream. Changing wind speed or direction causes gusts to spin. As the rotating updraft, or mesocycle, collects more warm air from the approaching storm, its rotation speed increases. The jet stream’s cool air provides even more energy. The mesocyclone’s moisture generates a funnel-shaped water cloud. The cloud spiral collapses after building, becoming a tornado upon impact.
Sunny: Weather Type 02
Sunny weather is fundamental in this study since its weather type number 2 replicates my birthday month, February. Anticyclones bring clouds over the horizon, which result in a bright day or a clear night sky. Sunny weather can cause temperatures to increase under the Sun’s effect. However, a clear sky at night allows temperatures to fall drastically, particularly in the winter. Further, since heat emanates from the environment and no cloud cover prevents it from escaping into space, the temperature drop continues until an hour after sunrise.
Conclusion
The hydrological cycle is a crucial procedure on the Earth’s surface that entails water undergoing various processes. Its end product ensures water is adequately circulated on the Earth’s surface. At the same time, cloud cover is an essential aspect of the atmosphere; it entails different types that breed different results when they exhibit at different times. Finally, the weather is an integral part of the environment, and one can predict what to wear through the weather.
References
Koutsoyiannis, D. (2020). Revisiting the global hydrological cycle: Is it intensifying? Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 24(8), 3899-3932. Web.
Nomokonova, T., Ebell, K., Löhnert, U., Maturilli, M., Ritter, C., & O’Connor, E. (2019). Statistics on clouds and their relation to thermodynamic conditions at Ny-Ålesund using ground-based sensor synergy. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(6), 4105-4126. Web.