WATER IN THE AIR

B Y : A L E X , M U S T A F A , E VA N Y

VOCABULARY
Weather- the condition of the atmosphere at a certain time and place Humidity- the amount of water vapor in the air Relative Humidity- the amount of water vapor in the air compared with the maximum amount of water vapor that the air can hold at a certain temperature Condensation- the process in which a gas, such as water vapor, becomes a liquid Cloud- a collection of millions of tiny water droplets or ice crystals Precipitation- water, in solid or liquid form, that falls from the air to Earth

WEATHER
The atmosphere is affected by the amount of water in the air. To understand the weather, you need to know the Water Cycle. The water cycle is the movement of water between the land, ocean, and atmosphere.

WATER CYCLE
The sun is the main source of energy for the water cycle. It heats Earths water and causes it to evaporate. This is when water turns into a gas called water vapor. When the water vapor gets cooler it becomes clouds. This is condensation. When too much water vapor is in the clouds it may fall as rain, sleet, snow, or hail. This is precipitation. The water collects in oceans, lakes, groundwater, etc. and the cycle starts over again.

HUMIDITY
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. You can feel humidity in the air on a hot and muggy day. The more water that is in the air, the higher the humidity is. This has to do with evaporation. You feel uncomfortable because your sweat cannot evaporate because the air is already saturated. Warmer air holds more water vapor than cooler air does. Relative humidity compares how much water is in the air with how much could be in the air. To measure relative humidity scientists use a psychrometer that contains two thermometers, a wetbulb and a dry- bulb. To find the relative humidity divide the amount of water in a volume of air by the maximum amount of water that the air can hold. Then multiply that number by a hundred to get the percentage.

DEW POINT
The dew point is the temperature at which water vapor will condense. Air can become saturated when water vapor is added to the air through evaporation. When the air cools below its dew point, the water vapor drops out in liquid form. An example is the ice in a glass of water. The glass takes in the heat from the air and causes the air surrounding the glass to cool to below its dew point. Water vapor condenses on the side of the glass.
Dew on grass in morning

CLOUDS
Clouds are made by condensed water vapor or ice crystals. Clouds create precipitation (rain, sleet, snow, and hail). Clouds are classified by altitude and shape. The three main cloud shapes are cirrus, cumulus, and stratus. The three cloud altitudes are low(below 2000m), middle(between 2000m and 6000m), and high (above 6000m).

TYPES OF CLOUDS
Cirrus clouds are thin, wispy and made of ice crystals. They are in the highest altitude. They usually mean good weather. Cumulus clouds are big, fluffy clouds that look like cotton balls. You have probably looked up in the sky and tried to figure out what the cloud looks like. They are usually low in the sky, but can be at a higher altitude. Most of the time, they are good weather signs but they can get big and bring thunderstorms and other bad weather. Stratus clouds are thin, stretched clouds. Often they are gray. An example is fog. Normally they are low level (but can be at a higher altitude) and bring rain or snow.

Cirrus Cloud

Cumulus Cloud

Stratus Cloud

MORE ON CLOUDS
Clouds often have two parts to their names. One part is for the type of cloud and the other for the altitude. Low clouds do not have prefixes. Middle clouds can have the prefix alto (altostratus, altocumulus). Also they can have the prefix nimbo or suffix nimbus to show they are producing precipitation (cumulonimbus, nimbostratus). High clouds can have the prefix cirro (cirrocumulus, cirrostratus). When the meteorologist (Glen Burns) mentions altocumulus, you know that is a cumulus cloud in the middle altitude.

PRECIPITATION
Precipitation is water, in solid or liquid form, that falls from the air to Earth. The four main kinds of precipitations are rain, snow, sleet, hail depending on the temperature of the atmosphere. In the cloud little droplets of water combine and can fall to Earths surface as rain when they reach a certain size. Sleet is a mixture of rain and snow. This happens when the rain drops go through a series of temperatures on its way down to Earths surface. Snow is when water in the air freezes and forms crystals that fall to the ground. Hail is balls of ice that fall to the ground in different sizes (up to a golf ball size).

Rain

Snow

Sleet

Hail

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