The History of Cloud Classification

In 1802, Luke Howard, a pharmacist with a passion for meteorology, introduced a cloud classification system that revolutionized the understanding of clouds. His system identified three main cloud types: cirrus, cumulus, and stratus, along with intermediate forms. This classification had a significant international impact, inspiring poets and artists. Howard's work helped demystify clouds, revealing them as indicators of atmospheric processes and subject to physical laws. His contributions laid the foundation for modern meteorology and the study of clouds, known as nephology.

What was Luke Howard's profession?

• Pharmacist

• Scientist

• Meteorologist

• Teacher

Why was meteorology a late developer compared to other natural sciences?

• No interest from scientists

• Weather is elusive

• It was not considered important

• Lack of technology

What are the three principal types of clouds named by Howard?

• Nimbus, Stratus, Cumulus

• Stratus, Nimbus, Cirrus

• Cirrus, Cumulus, Stratus

• Altostratus, Cirrus, Cumulus

What does the term 'cirrus' mean in Latin?

• Heap

• Layer

• Tendril or hair

• Sheet

How did Howard's naming system accommodate the changing nature of clouds?

• By using colors

• By introducing intermediate and compound types

• By using numbers

• By using shapes

What is the name given to a high, wispy cirrus cloud that spreads into a sheet?

• Cumulonimbus

• Altostratus

• Stratocumulus

• Cirrostratus

Which poet wrote a series of poems in praise of Howard's clouds?

• J.W. von Goethe

• William Wordsworth

• Percy Shelley

• John Keats

What did John Constable do in response to Howard's classification?

• Painted clouds

• Held lectures

• Conducted experiments

• Wrote a book

What do clouds help us understand about the atmosphere?

• Wind speed

• Temperature

• Circulating patterns of weather and climate

• Humidity

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5

NGSS.MS-ESS2-6

What physical law do clouds follow?

• They rise indefinitely

• They remain stationary

• They float

• They fall slowly under gravity

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-5