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| Online 6.1: Infrared Satellite Imagery Captures the Diurnal Cycle of Atmospheric Stability -
An animation of infrared satellite imagery during a 24-hour period in mid-July shows the development and movement of clouds. Examining animations such as this can provide insight into the diurnal (daily) changes of atmospheric stability. Cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds develop by mid-afternoon due to heating of the surface air causing it to destabilize, rise and form clouds. Infrared satellite imagery provides information temperature information about the surface it detects. In cloud-free areas infrared images provide data on the round temperature. Changes in the color of the cloud-free areas (darkening with time) indicate warming of the low-level air. As the ground cools during the evening and early nighttime hours, the cumulus activity dies off, although the residual high clouds from a few tall thunderstorms persist. This daily cycle is repeated over the major landmasses during the warm season, when most clouds are convective (vertically developing) rather than stratiform (layered clouds).
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