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Asperitas – a newly identified cloud supplementary feature
Author(s) -
Giles Harrison R.,
PretorPinney Gavin,
Marlton Graeme J.,
Anderson Graeme D.,
Kirshbaum Daniel J.,
Hogan Robin J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
weather
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.467
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1477-8696
pISSN - 0043-1656
DOI - 10.1002/wea.2996
Subject(s) - cloud computing , feature (linguistics) , variety (cybernetics) , meteorology , computer science , environmental science , remote sensing , geography , artificial intelligence , philosophy , linguistics , operating system
Cloud images obtained through a crowd‐sourced international observing network suggest a cloud variety that has hitherto not been explicitly classified. This cloud feature shows a roughened base, which, under some solar illumination conditions, provides a particularly dramatic appearance. The growing body of photographic observations have led the World Meteorological Organisation to add asperitas to the 2017 edition of the International Cloud Atlas as a new form of supplementary cloud feature. We compare reported sightings with available meteorological data to investigate the conditions that give rise to this newly recognised cloud description.