What are clouds and why they are people

Fluffy white horses or dark storm clouds, a lightly smeared shroud or bright scarlet beauty at sunset. What are clouds for meteorologists, air traffic controllers and romantic poets? Perhaps for us this is something more than just water vapor. Airy white pillows are sung in many songs and poems. Pilots and paratroopers tend to gaze from above on the boundless beauty of cotton wool. They are called new inventions (such as the Internet space), soft beds, they are added to cookbooks (as a description of air cakes and other desserts) and a dream book (clouds in a dream allow us to judge the level of spiritual harmony of a person).

As you can see, this is a fairly capacious concept and word. How to answer children's questions about what clouds are? Firstly, it must be said that this is a very easy aerial education. After all, in many cartoons funny characters jump, skate, walk on them. Say that this collection of droplets of evaporated water, heated air, so to speak fog, is only much higher above the earth. They, unfortunately, can not be touched, but you can admire endlessly.

We see very beautiful white clouds when their density is very small, which allows the rays of the sun to pass through the fluffy masses. And if dark (blue or gray) clumps accumulate above us, it means that the concentration of water droplets prevents the light from penetrating through them. To these small particles of liquid, dust and soot can also be attached, staining the clouds visible to us in even more gloomy and menacing colors.

In the lessons of geography, we learned that a large number of varieties of clouds are allocated. They are distinguished depending on the species from the earth, the height of their location, the danger that can be expected from them. The three main species - pinnate, layered and cumulus - formed all the other intermediate.

What are clouds of the first type and what do they consist of? We can see them in clear weather high-high in the sky like a smeared white paint. Their movement is not noticeable to the naked eye. Such clouds are mainly not from drops, but from water crystals, since at the altitude where they are located (up to fourteen kilometers), it is very cold.

Layered accumulations of steam are many with the expected change in weather. From the ground they are white-gray and usually arrive with a large "company" at once, promising a cold snap or rain.

Cumulus clouds are the closest to us. They can be located already from four hundred meters above the ground. Usually such "cotton sweats" float across the sky in good weather, reminding us of different animals, objects of everyday life or even people we know. Who would have thought: the last kind of aquatic clusters can be very dangerous at take-off or landing of an airplane, since it significantly worsens the visibility of the pilot ...

In general, what are clouds for an air traffic controller or an aviator? This is an important indicator of the present and future weather in flight, up and landing. The view, their number and height make it possible to judge the waiting pilot and passengers of turbulence and even thunderstorms and in time to find the opportunity to avoid problems in the voyage. A special instrument will help professionals to determine the water content of the clouds (that is, the density of water droplets in them) and, accordingly, make the right decisions about the movement of iron birds in the air.