GEOG 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Dew Point, Stratus Cloud
Document Summary
Dew: water condensed on objects near the ground when the temperature has dropped to the dew point. Frozen dew: dew that forms on the ground and then freezes as the temperature drops below. Frost: the covering of ice produced on objects when the temperature has dropped to the dew point after the dew point is already below 0 c. Freeze: this occurs when the air temperature drops below 0 c but it does not reach dew point. Suspended particles of water droplets or ice crystals in the atmosphere: clouds are where precipitation originates. Formed by the rising air cooling to the dew point, then condensing to form water droplets: clouds are (mainly) confined to the troposphere, a puffy cloud 1 km^3 in size weighs nearly 500 tons. Clouds are important because they: provide precipitation, regulate earth"s energy balance, provide vast quantities of heat to the atmosphere (condensation releases latent heat)
