A sea of clouds is an overcast layer of stratocumulus clouds, as viewed from above, with a relatively uniform top which shows undulations of very different lengths resembling waves on the sea.[1] A sea of fog is formed from stratus clouds or fog and does not show undulations.[2]
In both cases, the phenomenon looks very similar to the open ocean. The comparison is even more complete if some mountain peaks rise above the clouds, thus resembling islands.
Formationedit
A sea of clouds forms generally in valleys or over seas in very stable air mass conditions such as in a temperature inversion. Humidity can then reach saturation and condensation leads to a very uniform stratocumulus cloud, stratus cloud or fog. Above this layer, the air must be dry. This is a common situation in a high-pressure area with cooling at the surface by radiative cooling at night in summer, or advection of cold air in winter or in a marine layer.
Artistic usesedit
The term Sea of Clouds (雲海) is a Chinese poetic term for the surroundings of a mountain's summit, such as the one at Huangshan.[3]
clouds, lunar, mare, mare, nubium, other, uses, disambiguation, clouds, overcast, layer, stratocumulus, clouds, viewed, from, above, with, relatively, uniform, which, shows, undulations, very, different, lengths, resembling, waves, formed, from, stratus, cloud. For the lunar mare see Mare Nubium For other uses see Sea fog disambiguation A sea of clouds is an overcast layer of stratocumulus clouds as viewed from above with a relatively uniform top which shows undulations of very different lengths resembling waves on the sea 1 A sea of fog is formed from stratus clouds or fog and does not show undulations 2 Sea of cloudsSea of clouds in Chamonix Mont Blanc ClassificationFamily C Low level AppearanceUniform with ondulationsPrecipitationno Sea of clouds in Mount Pulag Philippines In both cases the phenomenon looks very similar to the open ocean The comparison is even more complete if some mountain peaks rise above the clouds thus resembling islands Formation editA sea of clouds forms generally in valleys or over seas in very stable air mass conditions such as in a temperature inversion Humidity can then reach saturation and condensation leads to a very uniform stratocumulus cloud stratus cloud or fog Above this layer the air must be dry This is a common situation in a high pressure area with cooling at the surface by radiative cooling at night in summer or advection of cold air in winter or in a marine layer Artistic uses editThe term Sea of Clouds 雲海 is a Chinese poetic term for the surroundings of a mountain s summit such as the one at Huangshan 3 Wanderer above the Sea of Fog is an oil painting composed in 1818 by the German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich depicting this phenomenon References edit World Meteorological Organization Sea of clouds Eumetcal Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Retrieved February 22 2015 World Meteorological Organization Sea of fog Eumetcal Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Retrieved February 22 2015 Maitland Derek Taylor Chris 1998 Traveler s China companion Old Saybrook Globe Pequot Press p 20 ISBN 9780762702497 nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sea of clouds nbsp This cloud related article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sea of clouds amp oldid 1203934632, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
