Cloud spotters help ‘wave-like’ formation secure official recognition

[knocker]

A new cloud formation first spotted by citizen scientists and verified by University of Reading weather experts is set to join the official register of cloud types.

The asperitas cloud, recognisable due to its dramatic, roughened base, is among a group of the first new clouds to be classified by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since 1951. It will be announced at a WMO event in Geneva for World Meteorological Day (Thursday 23 March).

The official recognition of asperitas follows a 10-year campaign led by Gavin Pretor-Pinney, a visiting fellow at Reading. He is the author of The Cloudspotter’s Guide and founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society.

He worked a science team led by Professor Giles Harrison, from the University of Reading’s Meteorology department, to analyse photos sent in by members of the public and understand the scientific origin of the unusual formation.

http://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR715451.aspx

[Jo Farrow]

Any photos folks of :

Volutus (or roll cloud)

cataractagenitus , flammagenitus, homogenitus, silvagenitus and homomutatus.

asperitas, cavum, cauda (often known as tail cloud), fluctus (widely known as Kelvin-Helmholz wave) and murus (known as wall cloud).

A new accessory cloud, flumen, has been included. Commonly known as “beaver’s tail,” it is associated with a supercell severe convective storm

 

to go in a blog explaining new cloud classifications

[toggerob]

This is one of my pics taken on the 24th July 2013 here in the Peak District, of the asperitas cloud type. I think the classification of this type was just beginning to gain acceptance around 2012 by the WMO and there was plenty of pictures being circulated by the msm around that same time, hence my instant recognition of it.

[Jo Farrow]

Blog about the new cloud names http://www.netweather.tv/index.cgi?action=news;storyid=8052;sess=

 

Edited March 23, 2017 by Jo Farrow
add image

[Gael_Force]

3 hours ago, Jo Farrow said:

Any photos folks of :

Volutus (or roll cloud)

cataractagenitus , flammagenitus, homogenitus, silvagenitus and homomutatus.

asperitas, cavum, cauda (often known as tail cloud), fluctus (widely known as Kelvin-Helmholz wave) and murus (known as wall cloud).

A new accessory cloud, flumen, has been included. Commonly known as “beaver’s tail,” it is associated with a supercell severe convective storm

 

to go in a blog explaining new cloud classifications

Is asperitas the same as the asperatus clouds that were featured in some fanastic pictures eg..

I know the cloud appreciation society was canvassing for a formal recognition.

For asperatus to stand a chance of becoming official, we were told, we’d need some idea of the atmospheric conditions that cause it to appear. Finding this out sounded like a lot of work. So we were pleased to learn that Graeme Anderson, an MSc student at the Department of Meteorology, Reading University, had decided to write his dissertation on the cloud, and was happy to trawl through the meteorological records for the dates and locations of the asperatus sightings we’d been sent to try and work out what caused the formation.

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/asperatus-update/comment-page-2/

[Jo Farrow]

4 minutes ago, Gael_Force said:

Is asperitas the same as the asperatus clouds that were featured in some fanastic pictures eg..

I know the cloud appreciation society was canvassing for a formal recognition.

For asperatus to stand a chance of becoming official, we were told, we’d need some idea of the atmospheric conditions that cause it to appear. Finding this out sounded like a lot of work. So we were pleased to learn that Graeme Anderson, an MSc student at the Department of Meteorology, Reading University, had decided to write his dissertation on the cloud, and was happy to trawl through the meteorological records for the dates and locations of the asperatus sightings we’d been sent to try and work out what caused the formation.

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/asperatus-update/comment-page-2/

 

It seems to have been given the official name with an 'i' which maybe some Latin thing. Front page of the CAB website says Asperitas, but yes all same cloud

[Weather-history]

Surely asperitas has been around for millennia, so why is it only being recognised now?

[Jo Farrow]

4 minutes ago, Weather-history said:

Surely asperitas has been around for millennia, so why is it only being recognised now?

It was included on the WMO list of cloud classification today, this is list is only updated occasionally and Asperitas has found its place. The same could be said for Volutus (roll cloud), it is just an expansion of the official categories to be useful and more detailed.  Are you asking why it wasn't done in 1986/7 or in 1803?

[knocker]

Peruse the image gallery

https://www.wmocloudatlas.org/search-image-gallery.html

[Weather-history]

20 hours ago, Jo Farrow said:

It was included on the WMO list of cloud classification today, this is list is only updated occasionally and Asperitas has found its place. The same could be said for Volutus (roll cloud), it is just an expansion of the official categories to be useful and more detailed.  Are you asking why it wasn't done in 1986/7 or in 1803?

Well, yes. I know one or two people who think asperitas is just undulatus.

[Jo Farrow]

There is some information addressing that.

From WMO -The Task Team identified this as: "A formation made up of well-defined, wavelike structures in the underside of the cloud, more chaotic and with less horizontal organization than undulatus. It is characterised by localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below. Varying levels of illumination and thickness of cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects."

Undulatus already exists as a cloud variety, the third level of classification, which is generally associated with stratiform clouds. The Task Team has proposed that asperitas (note spelling: after the Latin noun meaning roughness) be included as a new supplementary feature.

So once you have chosen genus, species, variety (which could be undulatus) the next level is Supplementary features (which could be asperitas). Or you can just chose Asperitas as a feature and search on that without choosing cloud types.

There is quite a nice table matching supplementary features with likely types of cloud https://www.wmocloudatlas.org/clouds-supplementary-features-and-genera-most-frequently-occur-table.html

Fallstreak hole, mamma and asperitas etc