Cloud Chromatography Lab

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Purpose Meteorologists have been observing clouds to determine weather conditions dating back to the nineteenth century. Various tools and instruments are used to monitor complex measurements of clouds and their effects on the weather. One of these cloud-related instruments is the nephoscope; this instrument can measure the amount of cloud cover, the directional movement of clouds, and even the cloud’s altitude. In the Cloud Watcher investigation, data was collected over three weeks by use of a homemade mirror nephoscope in order to determine trends and variations of the weather in relation to cloud cover, wind direction, temperature, dew point, etc.

Supplementary Information Clouds are visible masses of condensed water vapor or ice crystals in the atmosphere that are attached to organic or inorganic materials including dust or pollen particles (Smith, 2017). The height of the clouds and the temperature of the atmosphere determine the composition of the clouds; clouds high up in the atmosphere are most often made up of ice crystals, while lower atmospheric clouds are predominantly liquid …show more content…

Clouds are visibly white because the small water molecules in the clouds are able to reflect the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the sun’s rays, which appears white to the human eye (Raymond, 2013). Satellites are able to create more vivid and detailed images of clouds in different forms. Visible satellite images use reflected visible light to monitor clouds in the illuminated area of earth. Infrared satellite images can be viewed both day and night as they do not rely on light from the sun, but rather the temperatures of what is being observed (Mills, 2015). In infrared images, the heights and temperatures of clouds can be determined by their colors; warm low altitude clouds appear gray, while cold high altitude clouds are bright white (Mills,

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