Latest Diamond dust Stories
Researchers say that aircraft can lead to increased snowfall around the world's major airports. New research shows that numerous private and commercial flights have been drilling holes and canals though clouds, influencing the snow and rainfall below them. The inadvertent cloud-seeding effects are facilitated by the expansion and cooling of air behind a propeller aircraft's engine blades and over aircraft wings when supercooled cloud temperatures are about 14 degrees Fahrenheit and below. ...
Author: Dr. Tony Phillips - Science @ NASANASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), best known for cutting-edge images of the sun, has made a discovery right here on Earth. "It's a new form of ice halo," says atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley of England. "We saw it for the first time at the launch of SDO--and it is teaching us new things about how shock waves interact with clouds."Ice halos are rings and arcs of light that appear in the sky when sunlight shines through...
As turboprop and jet aircraft climb or descend under certain atmospheric conditions, they can inadvertently seed mid-level clouds and cause narrow bands of snow or rain to develop and fall to the ground, new research finds. Through this seeding process, they leave behind odd-shaped holes or channels in the clouds, which have long fascinated the public.The key ingredient for developing these holes in the clouds: water droplets at subfreezing temperatures, below about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15...
New technology to help with climate change predictionsScientists have created an instrument designed to help determine the shapes and sizes of tiny ice crystals typical of those found in high-altitude clouds, down to the micron level (comparable to the tiniest cells in the human body), according to a new study in Optics Letters, a journal published by the Optical Society. The data produced using this instrument likely will help improve computer models used to predict climate change.Among the...
Thanksgiving is the biggest travel holiday of the year in the United States. Millions of people board airplanes and fly long hours to visit friends and family. NASA - Do you dread the trip? Think of it as a sky watching opportunity. There are some things you can see only through the window of an airplane. Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley lists a few of his favorites:"Both sides of the aircraft have their own sights," says Cowley. "On the side opposite the sun, the main...
Latest Diamond dust Reference Libraries
Cirrus clouds are thin wisplike strands, sometimes accompanied by patches. Their shape and arrangement lead to their common name of "mare's tail". These clouds can be so extensive that they are virtually identical to one another and hard to tell apart. Sometimes high altitude convection produces another form of cirrus called cirrocumulus. Many cirrus clouds produce hair-like filaments made of heavy ice crystals that precipitate from them. This precipitation often indicates the difference in...
