Asperitas – a newly identified cloud supplementary feature

Harrison, R. G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0693-347X, Pretor-Pinney, G., Marlton, G. J., Anderson, D. G., Kirshbaum, D. J. and Hogan, R. J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-5157 (2017) Asperitas – a newly identified cloud supplementary feature. Weather, 72 (5). pp. 132-141. ISSN 0043-1656 doi: 10.1002/wea.2996

Abstract/Summary

Cloud images obtained through a crowd-sourced international observing network suggest a cloud variety that has hitherto not been explicitly classified. This cloud feature shows a roughened base, which, under some solar illumination conditions, provides a particularly dramatic appearance. The growing body of photographic observations have led the World Meteorological Organisation to consider adding ‘asperitas’ to the 2017 edition of the International Cloud Atlas as a new form of supplementary cloud feature. We compare reported sightings with available meteorological data to investigate the conditions that give rise to this newly recognised cloud description.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/69830
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/wea.2996
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	Royal Meteorological Society
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