Haotian Chen – Cloud Second– Altocumulus Lenticularis

Haotian Chen – Cloud Second– Altocumulus Lenticularis

I was out on my balcony on an ordinary afternoon, looking for some fresh air. Then I noticed a series of steadily existing but constantly evolving frisbee-like clouds over the Rocky Mountains far away. I firmly believe that this was an excellent opportunity for the Cloud Second assignment. So, I got my camera ready and decided to record the evolution of the clouds by taking photos at a rate of one per second. The camera took more than 3,000 photos in a row, which meant that about 50 minutes of cloud evolution was recorded. I stitched these photos together at 60 fps to create a clear and smooth time-lapse video of 6000 × 4000 pixels.

This series of photos was taken starting at 16:35 and ending at 17:31 on Nov 1, so I found the Skew-T diagram from Grand Junction at 00Z on Nov 2 (18:00 in Boulder on Nov 1). From the Skew-T diagram, we know that CAPE = 0, indicating that the atmosphere was stable. Also, the two curves in the Skew-T diagram came close together starting at 5750 meters and separated at about 12,000 meters, which is consistent with the thick cloud stretching upward in the video. After searching, the frisbee-shaped cloud I focused on would be Altocumulus lenticularis.

  • Place: Boulder
  • Time: 16:35 – 17:31, Nov 1
  • Direction of the cloud: South-southwest
  • Camera: Sony ZVE10 Mirrorless Camera & Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD Lens for Sony E
  • Focus length: 78 mm (35mm equivalent: 117mm)
  • Resolution: 6000 × 4000
  • ISO: 100
  • Aperture: f/5
  • Shutter speed: 1/640s at 16:35, 1/320s at 17:31. The shutter speed has been slowed down by the camera’s automatic algorithm as the sky gets darker.
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1 Comment. Leave new

  • Austin Sommars
    Dec 16, 2023 22:02

    I love the use of a timelapse here, it helps the audience appreciate the fluid dynamics and physics that is taking place to create each different image. It is also an amazing view of the Flatirons!

    Reply

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