When viewed from space, clusters of airplane contrails make distinctive geometrical patterns. Scientists are using satellite detections of contrails to sort out how the long, narrow cirrus clouds impact our climate system.
Published Feb 21, 2013
Moist air can cause contrails to spread and become sprawling cirrus clouds. Are there climate consequences?
Published Jun 2, 2012
A vertical profile of wispy, icy clouds reveals their complex structure.
Published Jul 15, 2015
Data collected by a sensor on the Aqua satellite reveals the global distribution of clouds.
Published May 8, 2015
A striking display of high-altitude clouds over the Pacific Ocean are clearly cirrus, but further classification remains elusive.
Published May 29, 2015
Events on Earth’s surface can affect the development and shape of clouds in the sky.
Published Jan 3, 2017Image of the Day Heat Land Water Snow and Ice Remote Sensing
The island itself is almost too small see in this image, but it serves as the starting point for the clouds that flow toward the northeast in a giant V shape. Amsterdam Island is a volcanic summit, the northernmost volcano on the Antarctic tectonic plate.
Published Dec 30, 2005
High, cold clouds radiate less thermal energy to space than low, warm clouds.
Published Jun 10, 2010
NASA scientists have found that cirrus clouds, formed by contrails from aircraft engine exhaust, are capable of increasing average surface temperatures enough to account for a warming trend in the United States that occurred between 1975 and 1994.
Published Apr 28, 2004
Whether a patch of clouds contains open or closed cells offers a clue about whether rain is falling below.
Published Feb 6, 2016
An open-celled cloud over the Pacific Ocean had a shape reminiscent of a certain circular letter of the alphabet.
Published Sep 27, 2014
Patches of open-celled clouds off the west coast of Peru offer beautiful glimpses of the sea—and pointers to where rain may have fallen.
Published Aug 7, 2018
With just a few clicks of a camera and a mouse, you can contribute to research that will help atmospheric scientists better understand how clouds affect climate.
Published Nov 5, 2014
They may look like airplane contrails, but the streaky clouds shown in this photo-like image formed around the exhaust left in the wake of ships traveling along the northwest coast of North America.
Published Jan 26, 2008
