Cirrus clouds can be observed during good weather. Some of their species notify us that a warm sunny day will soon deteriorate pretty badly. These are thread-like white "fibers" through which such celestial bodies as the moon and the sun always shine through.
they are visible and very bright stars. On a clear day, cirrus clouds in no way reduce the illumination. They are located in the upper tier of the troposphere. Their height usually ranges from 6 to 12 kilometers. Consist of ice crystals formed by cooling water droplets. Note that precipitation does not fall from them!
Studying the atlas of clouds, scientists have found that they have a direct impact on global climatic conditions. By reflecting the incoming solar radiation in their direction, they cool our planet, and by retaining the outgoing heat, they warm it. To date, scientists have not fully explored them, but when they do, cirrus clouds will be a great help to meteorologists.
How do these clouds form?
After long and painstaking work, the researchers concluded that the formation of cirrus-type clouds is due to the dust and combinations of metal particles that make uptheir basis is crystals.
What does this mean? The thing is that any cloud (not only cirrus) consists of small water droplets formed from water vapor, which, in turn, rises into the sky with heated air. Already at the top, this air begins to cool, and the steam condenses. But for this whole process to happen, the droplets need very small particles to stick to. This role is played by dust. The scientific name for such an "union" is "condensation grains". This discovery is the greatest breakthrough in cloud science. By the way, it is believed that cirrus clouds can be formed through human activity. But which one exactly? Until this is found out, the version will not be confirmed.
How does fog form?
It happens very simply. The droplets that we wrote about above condense almost at the very ground. The uniqueness of this phenomenon is that when entering the fog, we actually pass through the cloud! At the same time, on clothes, on the face and hands, we feel its moisture. By the way, this easily explains the formation of the air we exhale in winter: when we exhale, it becomes moist and warm, and when it comes into contact with frosty, it immediately turns into small foggy clouds.
Relatives
Very often cirrus clouds are combined with their "relatives" - cirrostratus and cirrocumulus. They are called "mixed". Cirrostratus resemble a thina transparent veil, against the background of which colored rings often form around the moon or sun. This is the result of refracted and reflected rays of light in ice crystals, of which, in fact, the cirrus clouds themselves are composed. Cirrocumulus in their appearance resemble lambs or fish scales. They can be observed in parallel with cirrus clouds. They are essential for our planet, preventing the decrease in temperature on the earth's surface.
