Here's another chance to play geographical detective! This mystery
concerns a particular type of cloud, one example of which was imaged by
the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) in November, 2001.
Usually, clouds take their names--cirrus, cumulus, and stratus--from
Latin terms that describe the way they appear to someone standing on the
ground. But clouds look very different when viewed from space, because
satellites can detect, much more easily than a single observer on the
ground, "cells" of cloudiness that form on scales ranging from tens to
hundreds of kilometers. This image covers an area of 380 kilometers x 325
kilometers over the eastern tropical Pacific. Use any reference material
you like and answer the following seven questions about the type of cloud
shown in the image. The letters in parentheses associated with the correct
answers, when put together, will spell out a relevant word. Submit this
seven-letter word as your quiz solution.
1. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(A) The individual convective cells that collectively make up this cloud
structure are quite shallow, with heights generally less than 2 km.
(T) These cloud systems only occur when the ocean temperature is above 80
degrees F (26.5 degrees C).
(F) These clouds are usually associated with violent storm systems.
2. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(U) These clouds are often detected using ground-based radar.
(C) This type of cloud was first imaged from space in the early 1960's,
soon after the launch of the TIROS V satellite.
(Y) These clouds are commonly tracked using propeller-driven research
aircraft.
3. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(N) These clouds persist only for a short time when severe weather is
occurring.
(P) Clouds of this type occasionally produce heavy precipitation.
(T) The organization of these clouds resembles Rayleigh-Bénard convection.
4. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(H) When these clouds make landfall, they often spawn tornadoes.
(I) These clouds are often observed to form off the western coasts of
continents.
(N) These clouds form when the atmospheric pressure drops very rapidly,
causing condensation.
5. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(N) These clouds were originally thought to be a transitional form
between open and closed cells.
(E) This type of cloud system plays a major role in the 1939 movie
adaptation of a book published in 1900.
(O) Cloud systems of this type are often given names contributed by
Asian-Pacific countries.
6. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(L) Hail often occurs when these clouds are seen.
(A) Cloud systems like these are associated with cold ocean currents.
(O) These cloud systems rarely form near the equator.
7. Two of these statements are false. Which one is true?
(N) The Coriolis force strongly influences the morphology of these cloud
patterns.
(E) The name describing these cloud forms is also used in conjunction
with certain sea creatures.
(S) The vorticity associated with such clouds can be very dangerous, and
when they are seen, you should take cover.
Quiz Rules
Send us your answers, name (initials are acceptable if you prefer), and
your hometown by the quiz deadline of Tuesday, March 22, 2005, using the
Quiz answer form, http://www-misr2.jpl.nasa.gov/education/answer.cfm.
Answers will be published on the MISR web site. The names and home towns
of respondents who answer all questions correctly by the deadline will
also be published in the order responses were received. The first 3
people on this list who are not affiliated with NASA, JPL, or MISR and
who have not previously won a prize will be sent a print of the image.
A new "Where on Earth...?" mystery appears as the MISR "latest featured
image" approximately once every two months. New featured images are
released on Wednesdays at noon Pacific time on the MISR home page,
http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov. The image also appears on the Earth
Observatory, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/, and on the Atmospheric
Sciences Data Center home pages, http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/,
though usually with a several-hour delay.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The
Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology.
