WATER CYCLE & CLOUDS CLOUDS - a visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the atmosphere, typically high above the ground.

 The highest clouds in the atmosphere are cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus. ...  Mid-level clouds include altocumulus and altostratus.  The lowest clouds in the atmosphere are stratus, cumulus, and stratocumulus.

There are 3 Main Types of clouds ----- Cumulus, Stratus, and Cirrus. Cumulus clouds are the puffy clouds that look like puffs of cotton. Cumulus clouds that do not get very tall are indicators of fair weather. If they do grow tall, they can turn into thunderstorms.

WATER CYCLE & CLOUDS

TROPOSPHERE - The troposphere is the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. The troposphere starts at Earth's surface and goes up to a height of 7 to 20 km (4 to 12 miles, or 23,000 to 65,000 feet) above sea level. Most of the mass (about 75-80%) of the atmosphere is in the troposphere. Almost all weather occurs within this layer.

STRATOSPHERE - The layer of the earth's atmosphere above the troposphere, extending to about 32 miles (50 km) above the earth's surface (t

MESOSPHERE - The region of the earth's atmosphere above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere, between about 30 and 50 miles (50 and 80 km) in altitude the lower boundary of the mesosphere).

THERMOSPHERE - The region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere and below the height at which the atmosphere ceases to have the properties of a continuous medium. The thermosphere is characterized throughout by an increase in temperature with height.

WATER CYCLE & CLOUDS WATER CYCLE / Hydrological Cycle - The water cycle or hydrologic is a continuous cycle where water evaporates, travels into the air and becomes part of a cloud, falls down to earth as precipitation, and then evaporates again. This repeats again and again in a never-ending cycle.

WATER CYCLE & CLOUDS Vocabulary

Water Cycle

Hydrologic - a science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the earth's surface and in the atmosphere

Precipitation - water that falls to the ground as rain, snow, etc.

Evaporation - to change from a liquid into a gas

Condensation - the process by which a gas cools and becomes a liquid

Accumulation - increase or growth by addition especially when continuous or repeated

Clouds

Cumulus - a type of thick cloud that is rounded on top and has a flat base

Stratus - a low cloud form extending over a large area at altitudes of usually 2000 to 7000 feet

Cirrus - a thin type of cloud that forms high in the sky

Cumulonimbus - cumulus cloud having a low base and often spread out in the shape of an anvil extending to great heights

Alto – Middle level

Mass - a quantity or aggregate of matter usually of considerable size-

Temperature - a measurement that indicates how hot or cold something is :a measurement in degrees showing the heat of something (such as air or water)

Pressure - the weight of the air in the Earth's atmosphere

Humidity - the amount of moisture in the air

Wind - a natural movement of air of any velocity; especially: the earth's air or the gas surrounding a planet in natural motion horizontally-