Cirrocumulus castellanus

Cirrocumulus casstelanus
Abbreviation	Cc cas
Symbol
Genus	Cirro- (curl of hair) -cumulus (heaped)
Species	Castellanus (turret-like)
Altitude	Above 6,000 m (Above 20,000 ft)
Classification	Family A (High-level)
Appearance	small, rounded turrets
Precipitation cloud?	No
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Cirrocumulus castellanus is a type of cirrocumulus cloud. The name cirrocumulus catellanus is derived from Latin, meaning "of a castle".^[1] These clouds appear as round turrets that are rising from either a lowere line or sheet of clouds.^[2] Cirrocumulus castellanus is an indicator of atmospheric instability at the level of the cloud.^[3] The clouds form when condesnation occurs in the base cloud, causing latent heating to occur. This causes air to rise from the base cloud, and if the air ascends into conditionally unstable air, cirrocumulus castellanus will form.^[4]

See also

List of cloud types

References

1. ^ Numen - The Latin Lexicon. "Definition of castellanus". http://latinlexicon.org/definition.php?p1=1002184. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
2. ^ Dunlop, Storm (2003). The weather identification handbook (1st Lyons Press ed. ed.). Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press. pp. 66. ISBN 1585748579. http://books.google.com/books?id=BR2ft4G5TgQC&lpg=PA1&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q=Cirrocumulus%20castellanus&f=false. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
3. ^ Callanan, Martin. "Cirrocumulus castellanus". International Cloud Atlas. nephology.eu. http://nephology.eu/cirrocumulus/cirrocumulus-castellanus. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 
4. ^ Ahrens, C. Donald (2007). Keith Dodson. ed. Meteorology Today: An Introduction to Weather, Climate, and the Environment. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. pp. 158. ISBN 0495011622. http://books.google.com/books?id=SpGfKb23Y9QC&lpg=PA158&ots=WLEourmdat&dq=%22Cirrocumulus%20castellanus%22&pg=PA158#v=onepage&q=%22Cirrocumulus%20castellanus%22&f=false. Retrieved 13 July 2011. 

External links

International Cloud Atlas - Cirrocumulus castellanus