Lesson 20: All about clouds

Welcome Back! Today, we’ll dive deep into the world of clouds, how clouds work, and how they can affect our drone missions.

Great! In this lesson, we will explore ceilings, delve into visibility, and understand the concepts of unstable and stable air.

Why do you think drone pilots should know about how clouds form?

Do you remember how far away you have to be from clouds?

How close can you fly below a cloud?
1 FT
33 FT
500 FT
40,000 FT

500 FT BELOW
Did you know ceilings are not only indoors? We can have ceilings outside too!
By the way, this is the ceiling! The bottom of the cloud, the lowest layer of the clouds. And you have to be 500 feet below the ceiling of the cloud.
Also used to refer to… vertical visibility of how far up you can see (only if it’s foggy or hazy and clouds are low)

How close can you get next to a cloud?
1.5 FT horizontally
18 FT horizontally
800 FT horizontally
2,000 FT horizontally

Nice Work! Did you know that the shape of a cloud can tell us a lot about what weather to expect?

Cloud ceilings are the lowest part of the clouds in the sky. This is important for flying because it helps pilots know how much clear space they have to fly safely below the clouds.

Today’s 🔑 Word!

Ceilings

Let’s dive into the world of weather and learn about two important concepts: stable air and unstable air. Knowing about these can help you make better decisions when flying your drone.

Have you ever wondered why sometimes the sky is full of fluffy clouds and other times it looks smooth like a blanket?

It all has to do with the stability of the air in the atmosphere.

First, let’s talk about stable air.

When the air is stable, you’ll usually see stratiform clouds. These clouds form in layers and give the sky a flat, gray look.

These clouds can stretch for miles!

Stable air is super smooth. Flying in stable air is much smoother. You won’t experience as many bumps and jolts, which makes it great for a steady drone flight.

What about visibility? It might not be great. Because the air isn’t moving much, haze and smoke can hang around, reducing visibility. It can make it harder to see far distances.

Stable air also features continuous precipitation. This is a fancy way of saying “long periods of steady rain or snow.”

So it looks like you have to weigh your pros and cons before planning a flight, even if the air is stable!

Now, what about unstable air?

Unstable air features cumuliform clouds. These are the big, puffy clouds that look like cotton balls. They form because warm air is rising quickly and cooling off, leading to cloud formation.

Unstable air is also turbulent. In unstable conditions, the air is choppy and bumpy. This can make your drone flight a bit more unpredictable.

Surprisingly, even though the air is turbulent, visibility tends to be pretty good. The moving air helps to clear out haze and smoke.

Instead of steady rain like with stable air, you get short, heavy bursts of rain or snow. We call this “showery precipitation”.

So again, when it comes to planning your drone flights, you have to weigh your pros and cons and be prepared for weather changes!

Stable air is when the air doesn't rise much, leading to calm and steady weather. This happens because the air near the ground is cooler and doesn't mix with the warmer air above.

Today’s 🔑 Word!

Stable vs. Unstable Air

Unstable air is when the air is more likely to rise and create weather changes like clouds, rain, and storms. This happens because the warm air near the ground rises quickly and mixes with cooler air above. It can lead to bumpy conditions for flying and unpredictable weather.

Activity: 1 picture of stable air conditions and 1 picture of unstable air conditions. Students guess which is which.

All right, let’s dive into the air masses. These are huge bodies of air that can really affect the weather (and your drone flights!)

An air mass is a large body of air that has similar characteristics throughout. Imagine a giant bubble of air that’s the same temperature and humidity all the way through.

When an air mass stays still or moves really slowly over an area with the same weather conditions, it starts to take on the characteristics of that area.

In the Arctic, for example, you can expect an air mass to become cold and dry.

In the tropics, air masses will become warm and moist.

In a desert, air masses will become hot and dry.

We organize air masses based on two characteristics: moisture and temperature.

Air masses can be maritime (moist) or continental (dry).

You can remember this because “maritime” refers to things that have to do with the sea, and “continental” refers to things that have to do with the land.

Air masses can also be arctic (extremely cold), polar (cold), or tropical (warm).

Let’s put it all together! What are the features of a continental polar air mass?

That’s right! A continental polar air mass forms over polar regions and brings cool, dry air.

Now what about a maritime tropical air mass?

You got it! A maritime tropical air mass forms over warm tropical waters and brings warm, moist air.

When air masses move, they can change the weather in the areas they travel over.

When an air mass moves over a warmer surface, it warms up. Warm air rises, creating convection currents. This can make the air mass unstable.

Unstable air is a mix of good and bad for drone pilots. Do you remember why?

Yep! On the one hand, it means good visibility. On the other hand, it can lead to turbulence and sudden rain showers.

Air Mass

An air mass is a large body of air that has similar temperature and humidity throughout. It's like a big bubble of air that can bring specific weather conditions to an area, such as warm and dry or cold and wet.

Phew! You’ve done a great job so far! 

Let’s take a much-deserved break. 

Bio Break 

Welcome Back, future pilot!

Today’s Short 

We’ll learn about two really important clouds with funny names that drone pilots should know about. 

They’re called Lenticular Clouds and  Cumulonimbus Clouds. Not the 

Nimbus 2000! 

The biggest and most dangerous type of cloud for a pilot is a cumulonimbus, or thunderstorm cloud. 

Rising air currents cause cumulonimbus clouds to form, which makes them extremely turbulent!

Recognize them! If you see one, severe weather like thunderstorms, heavy rain, lightning, hail, and even tornadoes might be nearby! 

For drone pilots, these clouds are dangerous because they can cause severe turbulence and strong winds. 

It's important to avoid flying near or under cumulonimbus clouds make sure your mission is safe. 

What causes thunderstorms to form?

It's like a recipe with three ingredients:

First up is high humidity. There needs to be a lot of moisture in the air. 

The word "nimbus" in cumulonimbus clouds actually means “rain”, so these clouds are full of water droplets.

Next, we need unstable conditions. Imagine the air as layers, like in a layer cake.

Normally, the lower layers of air are warmer than the higher ones. 

But sometimes, things get mixed up, and the air higher up gets warmer. This "unstable" setup creates the right conditions for a thunderstorm.

Finally, we need a lifting force to kick things off. This could be the sun heating the ground, making warm air rise, or cold air coming in and lifting warm air with it.

So, right off the bat–you should NEVER fly during a thunderstorm. 

But if you know and can recognize the stages of a thunderstorm, you'll know when to steer clear or cut a mission short.

Let's break down the stages of a thunderstorm:

First, we have the Cumulus Stage. Imagine fluffy cumulus clouds forming as warm air rises. 

If there's enough moisture and instability, these clouds grow into stormy cumulonimbus clouds.

Then comes the Mature Stage. After about 15 minutes, the clouds become powerful, rain or hail starts falling, and strong winds and turbulence kick in.

Finally, we reach the Dissipating Stage. This is where the storm weakens. The cloud spreads out and the storm calms down.

Lenticular Clouds

Lenticular Clouds are a type of cloud that looks like a lens or saucer. It forms near mountains when moist air rises and cools, creating smooth, rounded clouds with defined edges. 

While Lenticular Clouds don't usually bring rain, they can signal strong winds and are often seen over hilly areas.

If you see lenticular clouds (shaped like UFOs!) you should expect turbulence and strong winds! 

Which Lenticular Cloud Is Your Favorite?  

A , B, C, D

We’re becoming weather experts in addition to becoming drone pilots!

Let’s close out with a fun fact about aircraft and clouds.

Did you know? Researchers have discovered that airplanes can cause rain when they fly through certain types of clouds that are about 0.5 miles to 4 miles above ground.

Sometimes, when airplanes fly through these clouds while taking off or landing, they create holes or channels in the clouds near airports.

When airplanes pass through clouds that contain tiny droplets of very cold water, these droplets freeze on the airplane's wings or propellers. 

This frozen water then falls to the ground as rain or snow, leaving behind the circular holes or tunnels in the clouds.

Great work! I see you’re all a few steps closer to becoming a certified drone pilot.