Overview
Clouds strongly influence the atmospheric radiation budget. Their internal variability and three-dimensional geometry complicate the relationship between local measurements and area-averaged quantities relevant to weather and climate.
Cloud phenomena
Select a subject to view its photographs in sequence. All photos by Bernhard Mayer.
15 photographs Altocumulus Mid-level cloud fields and patterned skies. 
15 photographs Cirrus High ice clouds with delicate, fibrous structures. 
19 photographs Contrails Aircraft condensation trails and their evolution in the surrounding sky. 
5 photographs Corona Atmospheric coronae around the Sun and Moon, produced by diffraction in small droplets. 
29 photographs Cumulonimbus Deep convective clouds, from developing towers to mature storms. 
8 photographs Cumulus Fair-weather and developing cumulus clouds. 
3 photographs Desert Dust Desert dust visible in the atmosphere and deposited at the surface. 
14 photographs Halo and Sundogs Ice-crystal optical phenomena around the Sun. 
3 photographs Hole-punch Clouds Fallstreak holes formed when ice crystals develop in supercooled cloud layers. 
1 photograph Lenticularis Lens-shaped wave clouds produced by airflow over terrain. 
3 photographs Mammatus Pouch-like cloud structures beneath storm anvils. 
4 photographs Noctilucent Clouds High-altitude clouds visible in deep twilight. 
4 photographs Rainbows Primary and secondary bows produced by refraction and reflection in water droplets. 
46 photographs Snowflakes Ice-crystal forms photographed at close range. 
4 photographs Stratus Low cloud layers and fog-like cloud formations. 
13 photographs Thunderstorms and Lightning Convective storms and electrical discharges over Munich and elsewhere.