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They are produced by the ice crystals in cirrus or cirrostratus clouds high in the upper troposphere, at an altitude of 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to 10 kilometres (6.2 mi), or, during very cold weather, by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels.
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude, so the rising air expands in a process that expends energy and causes the air to cool, which makes water vapor condense into cloud. [8] Water vapor in saturated air is normally attracted to condensation nuclei such as dust and salt particles that are small enough to be held aloft by normal ...
Ice crystals create optical phenomena like diamond dust and halos in the sky due to light reflecting off of the crystals in a process called scattering. [1] [2] [15] Cirrus clouds and ice fog are made of ice crystals. [1] [16] Cirrus clouds are often the sign of an approaching warm front, where warm and moist air rises and freezes into ice ...
Crystallization is the process by which solids form, where the atoms or molecules are highly organized into a structure known as a crystal.Some ways by which crystals form are precipitating from a solution, freezing, or more rarely deposition directly from a gas.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 7 February 2025. Visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere "Nephology" redirects here. Not to be confused with Nephrology. For other uses, see Cloud (disambiguation). Cloudscape over Borneo, taken by the International Space Station Part of a series on Weather ...
Cirrus (cloud classification symbol: Ci) is a genus of high cloud made of ice crystals. Cirrus clouds typically appear delicate and wispy with white strands. In the Earth's atmosphere, cirrus are usually formed when warm, dry air rises, causing water vapor deposition onto mineral dust and metallic
For example, if the crystals are in a solution and the system is subject to shearing forces, small crystal nuclei could be sheared off a growing crystal, thus increasing the number of crystals in the system. So both primary and secondary nucleation increase the number of crystals in the system but their mechanisms are very different, and ...
In colder air down to −8 °C (18 °F), the crystals form as hollow columns, prisms or needles. In air as cold as −22 °C (−8 °F), shapes become plate-like again, often with branched or dendritic features. At temperatures below −22 °C (−8 °F), the crystals become plate-like or columnar, depending on the degree of saturation.