page_title: Cloud
section_title: Mother clouds
hierarchical_section_title: Cloud / Classification: How clouds are identified in the troposphere / Accessory clouds, supplementary features, and other derivative types / Mother clouds
caption_attribution_description: English: Dusk arrives where clouds appear to come near the hills while houses become silhouetted against the sky. Français&#160;: Crépuscule arrive là où les nuages ​​apparaissent à venir à proximité des collines tandis que les maisons deviennent détachant sur le ciel. Deutsch: Dusk dort ankommt, wo Wolken in der Nähe der Berge zu kommen scheinen, während Häuser gegen den Himmel abhebt geworden. Português: Crepúsculo chega onde as nuvens parecem vir perto da serra, enquanto as casas tornam-se silhuetas contra o céu. Tagalog: Takipsilim dumating kung saan ang mga ulap ay lumitaw na dumating malapit sa Hills habang ang mga bahay ay maging silhouetted laban sa kalangitan. Italiano: All'imbrunire arriva dove le nuvole sembrano provenire vicino alle colline mentre le case si stagliano contro il cielo. Español: Atardecer llega donde las nubes parecen venir cerca de las colinas mientras que las casas se recortan contra el cielo. Русский: Сумерки прибывает где облака появляются приблизиться холмов в то время как дома стали силуэт на фоне неба.
context_page_description: In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of minute liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may compose the droplets and crystals. On Earth, clouds are formed as a result of saturation of the air when it is cooled to its dew point, or when it gains sufficient moisture from an adjacent source to raise the dew point to the ambient temperature.
  They are seen in the Earth's homosphere, which includes the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere. Nephology is the science of clouds, which is undertaken in the cloud physics branch of meteorology. There are two methods of naming clouds in their respective layers of the homosphere, Latin and common.
  Genus types in the troposphere, the atmospheric layer closest to Earth's surface, have Latin names due to the universal adoption of Luke Howard's nomenclature that was formally proposed in 1802. It became the basis of a modern international system that divides clouds into five physical forms which can be further divided or classified into altitude levels to derive ten basic genera.
context_section_description: Clouds initially form in clear air or become clouds when fog rises above surface level. The genus of a newly formed cloud is determined mainly by air mass characteristics such as stability and moisture content. If these characteristics change over time, the genus tends to change accordingly. When this happens, the original genus is called a mother cloud. If the mother cloud retains much of its original form after the appearance of the new genus, it is termed a genitus cloud. One example of this is stratocumulus cumulogenitus, a stratocumulus cloud formed by the partial spreading of a cumulus type when there is a loss of convective lift. If the mother cloud undergoes a complete change in genus, it is considered to be a mutatus cloud.
caption: Cumulonimbus mother cloud dissipating into stratocumulus cumulonimbogenitus at dusk
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