Atmospheric Optical Phenomena

AtmosphericOpticalPhenomenaareproducedbythereflection,refraction,dispersionand scattering/diffusionofraysofsunlight. Theseprinciplesinphysicsexplaincommonlyaskedquestionsas 1. 2. 3. 4. Thefollowingopticalphenomenaarepresentedwithbriefformationprocesses. BlueSkiesandWhiteClouds RedSunsandBlueMoons Mirage Rainbow 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Whyistheskyblue? Whyaresomecloudswhiteandothersdark? Howarerainbowsformed? Whyarerainbowsatdifferentlocationsatdifferenttimesoftheday?

HaloandSunDogs Corona

IrisationandCloudIridescence LightPillars

CrepuscularRays Lightning

AuroralLights Glory Sources

BlueSkiesandWhiteClouds

Nitrogenintheatmosphereisaselectivescattererandscattersshorterwavelengthsof visiblelight(violet,blueandgreen)moreefficientlythanlongerwavelengths(yellow, orangeandred). Oureyesaremoresensitivetobluelight,sotheskyappearsblue. Hazyatmosphereoccurswhensmallparticles(dustandseasalt)aresuspendedinthe atmosphere.Theseparticlesscatterlightandweseeawhitishtingeinsteadofclear blue. Themoreparticlesthataresuspendedintheatmosphere,thewhitertheskyappears. Cloudsappearwhitebecausecountlessnumbersofclouddropletsscatterallthe wavelengthsofvisiblelightinalldirections.Thelightpenetratesthecloudthroughto thebaseofthecloud. Darkcloudsareseenwhenthecloudgrowsthicker,largerandtallerandtheverylittle lightpenetratesthroughtothebaseofthecloud.Theraindropsatthecloudbasealso aresolargethattheycannotscatterefficientlybutratherabsorbtheenergy.

RedSunsandBlueMoons

Nearsunriseorsunset,theangleofthesunsraysstriketheatmosphereatalower anglethanduringtheday.Thusthelightpenetratedadeeperlayerofatmosphereand mostoftheshorterwavelengthofvisiblelighthavebeenscatteredaway.Therefore, whenthelightfinallyreachesoureyes,weseethelongerwavelengths(orangeyellow). Brightyelloworangesunsetsoccurwhentheatmosphereisfairlyclean.Amore pollutedatmospheregivesaredsunrise/sunset.Eg.Volcanicsunsets Bluemoonsoccurwhenrelativelylargeparticles(0.011.0m)particlesscatterlonger wavelengthsofvisiblelight(red,orange,yellow)andtheshorterwavelengthsreaches oureyes.Thusweseeabluemoon.

Mirages

Miragesareformedwhenlightisbentasitpassesthroughtheatmospherehaving varyingdensities. Whenthesunheatstheearthssurfacetheairclosertothegroundiswarmerandless densethanlayersofairhigherintheatmosphere. Aslighttravelsfromalessdensemediumtoadensermediumatanangle,thelightis benttowardthenormal. Aslighttravelsfromadensemediumtoalessdensemediumatanangle,thelightis bentawayfromthenormal. Weseemiragesasshimmeringorwateryspotsonhotsurfaces,invertedreflectionsof distantobjects,andotherobjectsappeartallerthantheyreallyare.

Rainbow

Arainbowisvisiblelightbrokenintowhatweseeassevencolors:red,orange,yellow, green,blue,indigoandviolet.Theyalwaysappearinthesameorder,withredontop andvioletonthebottom,inamainrainbow. Inasecondaryrainbow,theyappearintheoppositeorder. Rainbowsarelight.Youcan'ttouchthem.Youcan'treacharoundbehindthem.They existonlyintheeyesandsometimesthephotographsofthepeoplewhoseethem. Threethingsmusthappenforyoutoseearainbow'scolors.First,thesunmustbe shining.Second,thesunmustbebehindyou,andthird,theremustbewaterdropsin theairinfrontofyou.Sunlightshinesintothewaterdrops,whichactastinyprismsthat bendor"refract"thelightandseparateitintocolors. Eachdropreflectsonlyonecoloroflight,sotheremustbemanywaterdropstomakea fullrainbow.You'llseethebrightestrainbowswhenthewaterdropsarelarge,usually rightafterarainshower. Oftenyoucanseeasecondrainbowaboveabrighterone.Thisiscausedbyextra reflectioninsidetheraindrops.Becausethesecondaryrainbowisformedfromtwo reflectionsinsteadofone,ithasawiderradiusthanthefirstrainbowanditscolorsare reversed,withredonthebottomandindigoonthetop. Becauserainbowsarelightandbecauselightraysstrikeeveryone'seyesalittle differently,therainbowyouseewillbealittledifferentfromtheonesomeoneelse sees,evenifheorsheisstandingrightbesideyou.Someoneelseashortdistanceaway orlookingfromadifferentanglemayseeamuchdifferentrainbowornorainbowat all.
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HaloandSunDogs
Sundog

Halo

Ahaloisanopticalphenomenonproducedbyicecrystalscreatingasingleringofcolor aroundthesunormoon.Itoccursmorefrequentlythanarainbow. Theyareproducedbytheicecrystalsincirruscloudshigh(510km,or36miles)inthe uppertroposphere. Theshapeandorientationofthecrystalsisresponsibleforthetypeofhaloobserved. Sixsidedicecrystalsthatmakeupthosecloudsactastheprismsthatseparatethesun's lightintocolours. Thelightisreflectedandrefractedbytheicecrystalsandsplitupintocoloursby dispersion.Thecrystalsbehavelikeprismsandmirrors,refractingandreflectingsunlight betweentheirfaces,sendingshaftsoflightinparticulardirections. Atmosphericphenomenasuchashaloswereusedaspartofweatherloreasan empiricalmeansofweatherforecastingbeforemeteorologywasdeveloped. Toseeahalo,don'tlookdirectlyintothesun.Instead,blockthesunfromyourview withyourhand,soyoucanjustseethecloudsaroundit.Sunglassesalsomayhelpyou seeahalobutevenwithsunglasses,you'llneedtoblockthesunfromyoureyes. Sundogsorparheliaareatmosphericphenomenathatcreatebrightspotsoflightinthe sky,oftenonaluminousringorhalooneithersideofthesun. Whenlightrefractsthroughflathorizontalicecrystals,youmightseebrightspotsof lightalongtherightandleftsidesofahalo. Sundogsmayalsoappearasacolouredpatchoflighttotheleftorrightofthesun.They canbeseenanywhereintheworldduringanyseason,buttheyarenotalwaysobvious orbright.Sundogsarebestseenandaremostconspicuouswhenthesunislow.

Corona

Theyaresimilartohalosbutareformedfromacloud'swaterdropsratherthanfromice crystals. Lightshinesthroughclouddroplets,curvesaroundthecirculardropsandgets diffracted.Thismeansitspreadsout,creatinganareaoflightlargerthanthesunor moon.This"crown"ofmilkylightaroundthesunormoonisthecorona. Whenalltheclouddropletsareaboutthesamesize,thediffractedlightcanmakethe coronaseparateintocolors.Thesecolorsmayrepeatthemselves. Commonlyseeninrecentlyformedaltostratusandaltocumulus.

Irisation/CloudIridescence

Cloudiridescenceistheoccurrenceofcoloursinacloudandissimilartoirisation. Itisafairlyuncommonphenomenonandisusuallyobservedinaltocumulus, cirrocumulusandlenticularclouds. Thecoloursareusuallypastelshades. Iridescenceismostfrequentlyseenneartothesunwiththesun'sglaremaskingit.Itis mosteasilyseenbyhidingthesunbehindatreeorbuilding.Otheraidsaredarkglasses orobservingtheskybyitsreflectioninaconvexmirrororinapoolofwater. Iridescentcloudsareadiffractionphenomenon.Smallwaterdropletsorevensmallice crystalsincloudsindividuallyscatterlight. Largeicecrystalsproducehalos,whicharerefractionphenomenaratherthan iridescence.Iridescenceshouldsimilarlybedistinguishedfromtherefractioninlarger raindropsthatgivesarainbow. Thecloudmustbeopticallythinsothatmostraysencounteronlyasingledroplet. Iridescenceisthereforemostlyseenatcloudedgesorinsemitransparentclouds.

Sun/LightPillars

SunPillarsappearmostoftenatsunriseandsunsetasaverticalshaftoflightextending upwardordownwardfromthesun. Theyareformedbyreflectionofsunlightthroughicecrystals. Pillarscanalsoformwhenhexagonalplatelikeicecrystalsfallwiththeirflatbases orientedhorizontally.Astheyfall,theytiltfromsidetosideandreflectthelightoffthe tippedsurfacesofthecrystals.Abrightareaisthenproducedaboveorbelowthesun.

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CrepuscularRays

Crepuscularraysareraysofsunlightthatappeartoradiatefromasinglepointinthe sky. Theserays,whichstreamthroughgapsincloudsorbetweenotherobjects,arecolumns ofsunlitairseparatedbydarkercloudshadowedregions. Thenamecomesfromtheirfrequentoccurrencesduringcrepuscularhours(those arounddawnanddusk),whenthecontrastsbetweenlightanddarkarethemost obvious.

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Lightning

Lightningisthedischargeofelectricitythatoccursinamaturethunderstorm (cumulonimbuscloud).

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AuroralLights

Anauroraisanaturallightdisplayinthesky,particularlyinthepolarregions,causedby thecollisionofchargedparticlesdirectedbytheEarth'smagneticfield. Anauroraisusuallyobservedatnightandtypicallyoccursintheionosphere.

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Glory

Agloryisanopticalphenomenon,appearingmuchlikeaniconicSaint'shaloaboutthe headoftheobserver,producedbylightbackscattered(acombinationofdiffraction, reflectionandrefraction)towardsitssourcebyacloudofuniformlysizedwater droplets.

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Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org Duncan,TomandDenizna,PhysicsfortheCaribbeanACXCCourse Ahrens,C.Donald,MeteorologyToday Wallace,J.M.andPeterHobbs,AtmosphericScience
CompiledbyPaulaWellington FortheTrinidadandTobagoMeteorologicalServices

2011 TrinidadandTobagoMeteorologicalServices RawinsondeBuilding,PiarcoInternationalAirport, Piarco Website:www.metoffice.gov.tt Email:dirmet@tstt.net.tt Telephone:6695465 Fax:6694009

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