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This article refers to meterology, for the airborne base of Captain Scarlet see Cloudbase. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to in shorthand as simply Captain Scarlet, is a science fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Television company of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson and Lew Grade and first shown in Britain (originally on ATV Midlands, but later the whole of the...
In Gerry Andersons puppet science fiction series Captain Scarlet, Cloudbase is the skyborne headquarters of international security organisation Spectrum, resembling a large aircraft carrier, complete with flight deck, that hovers continuously at a height of several thousand feet and can be moved above any point on Earth as needed. ...
The cloud base (or the base of the cloud) is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud. It is traditionally expressed either in m above the Earth (or planetary) surface, or as the corresponding pressure level in hectopascal (hPa, equivalent to millibar). Altitude is the elevation of an object from a known level or datum. ...
Cumulonimbus capillatus incus floating over Swifts Creek, Victoria in Australia A cloud is a visible mass of condensed droplets or frozen crystals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of the Earth or another planetary body. ...
The metre, or meter (U.S.), is a measure of length. ...
The use of water pressure - the Captain Cook Memorial Jet in Lake Burley Griffin, Canberra. ...
The pascal (symbol: Pa) is the SI derived unit of pressure or stress (also: Youngs modulus and tensile strength). ...
The bar (symbol bar) and the millibar (symbol mbar, also mb) are units of pressure. ...
Measurement The height of the cloud base can be estimated from surface measurements of air temperature and humidity. Modern automated instruments to measure cloud base include specially designed laser systems called ceilometer Fig. ...
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor in the air. ...
Laser Ceilometer A ceilometer is a device using a laser or other light source to determine the height of a cloud base. ...
Weather and climate relevance In well-defined air masses, many (or even most) clouds may have a similar cloud base because this variable is largely controlled by the thermodynamic properties of that air mass, which are relatively homogeneous on a large spatial scale. This is not the case for the cloud tops, which can vary widely from cloud to cloud, as the depth of the cloud is determined by the strength of local convection. In meteorology, an air mass is a large volume of air having fairly uniform characteristics of temperature, atmospheric pressure, and water vapor content. ...
The cloud top (or the top of the cloud) is the largest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud. ...
Convection is the internal movement of currents within fluids (i. ...
Clouds greatly affect the transfer of radiation in the atmosphere. In the thermal spectral domain, water is a strong absorber (and thus emitter, according to Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation). Hence clouds exchange thermal radiation between their bases and the underlying planetary surface (land or ocean) by absorbing and re-emitting this infrared radiation at the prevailing temperature: the lower the cloud base, the warmer the cloud particles and the higher the rate of emission. For a synthetic discussion of the impact of clouds (and in particular the role of cloud base) on the climate system, see the IPCC Third Assessment Report, in particular chapter 7.2. Kirchhoffs law in thermodynamics, also called e. ...
Cloud base is an important meteorological variable for aviation safety, as it determines whether pilots may use Visual Flight Rules (VFR) or must follow Instrument Flight Rules for take-off or landing. Visual flight rules (VFR) are a set of aviation regulations under which a pilot may operate an aircraft, if weather conditions are sufficient to allow the pilot to visually control the aircrafts attitude, navigate, and maintain separation with obstacles such as terrain and other aircraft. ...
It has been suggested that Air traffic control#Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) be merged into this article or section. ...
 Photo of a cloud base taken by Vidal Salazar in the Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia (2005). Image File history File links Cloud_base. ...
Image File history File links Cloud_base. ...
Location of Sulawesi Island (light green) among the various islands of Indonesia. ...
See also The cloud height (or the height of the cloud) is the distance between the cloud base and the cloud top. ...
Cloud cover is the amount of the sky obscured by clouds when observed at a particular location. ...
In Gerry Andersons puppet science fiction series Captain Scarlet, Cloudbase is the skyborne headquarters of international security organisation Spectrum, resembling a large aircraft carrier, complete with flight deck, that hovers continuously at a height of several thousand feet and can be moved above any point on Earth as needed. ...
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, often referred to in shorthand as simply Captain Scarlet, is a science fiction television series produced by the Century 21 Television company of Sylvia and Gerry Anderson and Lew Grade and first shown in Britain (originally on ATV Midlands, but later the whole of the...
References - Huschke, Ralph E. (1959) Glossary of Meteorology, American Meteorological Society, Boston, Second printing-1970.
- McIntosh, D. H. (1972) Meteorological Glossary, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Met. O. 842, A.P. 897, 319 p.
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