Low clouds: Cumulus 1
Illustration of a cumulus cloud, a cloud with noticeable vertical development and clearly defined edges. Cumulus means "heap" or "pile" in Latin. They are often described as "puffy" or "cotton-like" in appearance. Cumulus clouds typically form when warm air rises and reaches a level of comparatively cool air, where the moisture in the air condenses. This usually happens through convection, where a parcel of air is warmer than the surrounding air.
meteorology climate weather atmosphere sky| Author(s) | Tracey Saxby |
| Author Company | Integration and Application Network |
| Date Created | 2005-06-27 |
| Album | Ecosystems > Meteorology/Climate |
| Type | Symbol |
| Project(s) | USA-Australia Virtual Environmental Partnership |
| Dimensions | 501 x 236 |
| Filesize | 7.1 kB (svg) 24.3 kB (png) |
| Number of Downloads | 1597 |
| Filetype(s) | SVG PNG |
| License | Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) |
| Required Attribution | Tracey Saxby, Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/media-library) |