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CLOUD FORMATION [2 records]

Filter results by subject field Alphabetical list of terms

Filter results by subject field

Alphabetical list of terms

Record 1 2012-01-04

English

Subject field(s)
  • Atmospheric, Climatic and Meteorological Phenomena
DEF

A particular configuration of clouds in the sky.

OBS

Not to be confused with "cloud form, cloud arrangement" or other meanings of "cloud formation".

French

Domaine(s)
  • Phénomènes météorologiques, climatiques et atmosphériques
CONT

Si la masse d'air est stable, les nuages, auxquels un puissant soulèvement en bloc donne naissance, sont des nuages en couche : Nimbostratus, Altostratus, ou en voile : Cirrostratus. On explique ainsi les formations nuageuses orographiques qui peuvent demeurer plusieurs jours «accrochées» au relief, donnant fréquemment des précipitations importantes, génératrices d'inondations dans la plaine.

OBS

À ne pas confondre avec «forme des nuages» ou «arrangement de nuages».

Spanish

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Record 2 1999-05-02

English

Subject field(s)
  • Meteorology
  • Atmospheric, Climatic and Meteorological Phenomena
CONT

All clouds, from the puffy cumulus to the wispy cirrus, is a portion of air that has condensed into visible moisture. Cooling of such a portion of air to its dew point is by far the main reason for cloud formation. The main cause for the cooling lies in some process which causes air to rise or be forced upward. Large warm air masses may slide up the slope of a colder heavier mass of air. As the warmer air overrides the cooler, the warm air expands and is cooled itself by the expansion of air molecules, thus finally reaching a dew-point temperature resulting in widespread cloudiness. All clouds consist of minute water droplets, ice crystals, or a combination of both.

OBS

The term "cloud formation", in cloud physics, can also mean "a particular arrangement of cloud, a striking development of a cloud".

French

Domaine(s)
  • Météorologie
  • Phénomènes météorologiques, climatiques et atmosphériques
CONT

Notions sur la formation des nuages. S'il est suffisamment refroidi, l'air chargé de vapeur d'eau devient saturé; un refroidissement plus poussé peut en provoquer la condensation sur des corpuscules d'impuretés en suspension dans l'atmosphère (noyaux de condensation), entraînant ainsi la formation des gouttelettes d'eau qui constituent les nuages.

OBS

Ne pas confondre la «formation des nuages» avec la «formation nuageuse», deux notions qui incidemment se rendent par le même terme en anglais «cloud formation».

Spanish

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