Cloud Altitude Experiment #2

Cumulus clouds filled the sky over NearSys Station. Since I hadn't tried to measure the Altitude of these clouds using both the thermal imager and new weather station, I made an attempt after I got home.

The thermal imager indicated the ground temperature was 33 degrees and the cloud temperature was 4 degrees. Assuming a dry adiabatic lapse rate of 5.4 degrees per thousand feet, the base altitude of the cumulus clouds over NearSys Station was determined to be 5,400 feet.

The weather station indicates the air temperature was 57 degrees and the dew point was 29 degrees. Assuming a dry adiabatic lapse rate of the air temperature until it reached the dew point indicated that the altitude of the clouds was 5,200 feet.

That's a pretty good agreement. And the altitude makes sense because cumulus clouds are typically between 1,500 and 10,000 feet AGL.

A visible image of a cumulus cloud over NearSys Station.

A thermal image of the same cloud (the picture is one degree colder that I initial saw).