Illustration of cirrus clouds, which are characterized by thin, wisplike strands, often accompanied by tufts, leading to their common (non-standard) name of mare's tail. Cirrus clouds are formed when water vapor freezes into ice crystals at altitudes above 8000 meters (26,000 ft). Due to the sparse moisture at a high altitude, they tend to be very thin.

High clouds: Cirrus

Illustration of cirrus clouds, which are characterized by thin, wisplike strands, often accompanied by tufts, leading to their common (non-standard) name of mare's tail. Cirrus clouds are formed when water vapor freezes into ice crystals at altitudes above 8000 meters (26,000 ft). Due to the sparse moisture at a high altitude, they tend to be very thin.

meteorology climate weather atmosphere sky ice

Author(s)Tracey Saxby
Author CompanyIntegration and Application Network
Date Created2005-06-27
AlbumEcosystems > Meteorology/Climate
TypeSymbol
Project(s)USA-Australia Virtual Environmental Partnership
Dimensions502 x 314
Filesize12.1 kB (svg)   51.5 kB (png)
Number of Downloads962
Filetype(s) SVG     PNG
LicenseAttribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Required AttributionTracey Saxby, Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/media-library)