GG140: The Atmosphere, The Ocean, and Environmental Change
Lecture 11 - Clouds and Precipitation (Cloud Chamber Experiment). Scattered visible light and microwave radar can used used to detect clouds and precipitation. Cloud formation in rising air can be simulated in the classroom by suddenly dropping the pressure in a glass chamber. The small cloud droplets formed in this way fall too slowly to ever reach the earth. There are two main mechanisms by which precipitation is generated from clouds. Collision coalescence occurs mainly over tropical oceans whereas the ice phase mechanism is more common and also more relevant to the practice of cloud seeding. (from oyc.yale.edu)
| Lecture 11 - Clouds and Precipitation (Cloud Chamber Experiment) |
| Time | Lecture Chapters |
| [00:00:00] | 1. Interactions between Visible Light and the Atmosphere |
| [00:07:15] | 2. Using Radar to Detect Precipitation |
| [00:09:13] | 3. Cloud Formation Experiment |
| [00:19:06] | 4. Collision Coalescence Mechanism of Raindrop Formation |
| [00:21:36] | 5. Ice Phase Mechanism of Raindrop Formation |
| [00:26:17] | 6. Mechanism of Precipitation Formation Based on Cloud Characteristics |
| [00:32:38] | 7. Cloud Seeding |
| [00:39:21] | 8. Precipitation Climatology |
| [00:43:05] | 9. Evaporation |
| References |
| Lecture 11 - Clouds and Precipitation (Cloud Chamber Experiment) Instructor: Professor Ronald B Smith. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov]. |
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