2014-06-12

Asperatus and WMO International Cloud Atlas

Around 2011 and 2012, there appeared a movement to create a new cloud classification called Undulatus Asperatus and work with WMO to give it official recognition.
http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/asperatus-update/comment-page-2/

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324251504578579204045089848

It was pretty impressive that the Royal Met Soc was supporting the idea:
http://www.rmets.org/asperatus-new-cloud-variety

Recently I learned that CIMO (Commission for Instrument and Methods of Observation) took responsibility of revising the International Cloud Atlas (ICA), and established a task team. The team had a meeting in 2013 and the report is available:
http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/IMOP/reports/2013/CIMO-TT-ICA_FinalRep.pdf#page=20

Their recommendation is that the Asperatus cloud would be added not as a new Genera to existing ten (such as Cumulus or Altostratus), but as a new supplementary feature.

That should be a feasible compromise, since it has little impact of realtime synoptic meteorology, while skywatchers will have autholized terminology to describe the cloud with distinct appearance.

Recent document submitted to coming CIMO session says the task team is expected to finalize the revision of ICA by the end of 2015, and then it has to be authorized by some upper bodies, at least by the Executive Council of WMO which was held June every year.  So the new ICA will be available in the latter half of 2016, if everything goes perfectly.

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