Clouds

different types of clouds

  When you see a cloud its unique. Clouds are one of the most dynamic creations in the natural world. Sometimes they'll be a white fluffy mass skimming the sky, other times there a huge mountain storm cloud that pound the ground with rain, hail, sleet and lighting up the sky with crashes of lighting.
  Clouds form from the water cycle:

Each cloud has there own name. In 1803 Luke Howard, also known as "the man who named the clouds," named all the clouds after Latin words that give a small explanation of their characteristics. Such as the Cirrus Cloud, Cirrus meaning "wisp" and Stratus meaning "layer".
     

     

  Scientists also gave clouds their own symbol. These symbols were the language of the clouds, for example instead of writing"Cumulus"  they would put the symbol :     

                   Different types of clouds
There are many types of clouds, so scientists put them in category's: low clouds, mid clouds and high clouds. 

   low clouds are about 6,500 feet high. so when we see them, there characteristics and there unique shape can be clearly seen with the naked eye from the ground.  Low cloud types include: Stratus, Nimbostratus, Cumulonimbus (which can also be classified as a high cloud), Stratocumulus and fog (which is a type of Stratus that fell to the ground). Mid clouds include: Altocumulus, Altostratus, and Lenticular clouds. Last but not least, high cloud types: Cirrus, Cirrostratus, Cirrocumulus, and Cumulonimbus Clouds.

 
      

Atmosphere

different layers of the atmosphere                                                                                               

There are many different layers of the atmosphere, here is a diagram to show the layers and their names:

  There are five layers of the atmosphere: the Troposphere, the Stratosphere, the Mesosphere, the Thermosphere and the Exosphere.

   The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of different types of gases mixed together. The gases in the atmosphere are:  nitrogen, oxygen, and argon. Including some variables of gases, and particles.  

    Our layer of the Atmosphere, the Troposphere, is about 4.4 mile miles high, from the Poles about 9.3 miles above the Tropic zones. Also about 10.6 mile high near the Equator. The Troposphere is the lowest of the five layers.

  The Stratosphere is where the Ozone Layer is. The Ozone Layer contains 90% of the Ozone (or O3) in the Earth’s Atmosphere. The Ozone protects us by absorbing most of any harmful Sun Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation. Some man-made Halogen compounds affect the Ozone Layer causing it to have holes, these hole are mainly over the South Pole.The Stratosphere is where you’ll see air- planes flying, and weather balloons.

  The Mesosphere has frictional heating caused by air density this heat incinerates meteors coming through the Mesosphere. This layer of the Atmosphere extends from 31 miles to around 53 miles above the Earth. 

  Another thing you'll find in the Mesosphere are Noctilucent clouds.    

 

    There is no known proof of what Noctilucent clouds are made of, the most accepted theory is that Noctilucent clouds (NLC) are made up of meteortical dust particles covered in ice crystals. The ice crystals contain dust particles from meteors, comets and asteroids that have been incinerated coming through the Mesosphere.These particles are microscopic, about the size of the particles in the smoke from cigarettes. The best time to see Noctilucent clouds is mainly in the summer at twilight, for at twilight the sun is below the horizon. This is because when the sun is below the horizon its light shines on Noctilucent clouds making them glitter,this can be seen with the naked eye. This cloud can be mistaken for the Cirrus cloud:

 
         The Thermosphere, is the fourth layer of the atmosphere (also called "the heat sphere").This layer of the Atmosphere's air in extremely thin, that once your up there, your considered an astronaut. The Thermosphere is about 370 miles above the Earth.
  This layer of the atmosphere  (Thermosphere) is out of all the layers is more greatly affected by the suns energy. In the Thermosphere the temperature can become up to or greater than 3,100 °F. Though in the Thermosphere the air density is so low that you can barley notice.
  In the Thermosphere you'll find the Auroras (below).

     From Space (below)

    The Auroras, are made up of widely spread gas molecules in the Thermosphere, these molecules become electrically charged by heat and radiation coming from the sun which breaks them into Ions. In the Poles the Ionized gases glow into red, yellow and green lights called the Auroras.Auroras are also called the Northern and Southern lights. These colorful lights sway through the night sky.
   The Exosphere,is the highest layer of the Atmosphere, it extends about 10,000 km from the Thermosphere.
  The Exosphere is the limit to our Atmosphere. The Atmosphere merges into outer space with its air extremely thin. In the Exosphere air atoms and molecules escapes. In this layer of the Atmosphere helium and hydrogen are prime components and are the only present at extremely low densities. This is where satellites are orbiting also you'll find the International Space Station (ISS). 
   Below are links to see the ISS in action and to explain more about it:

  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-iss-stream
  http://iss.astroviewer.net/index.php