In meteorology, a cloud is an
aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets,
frozen crystals, or other particles
suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space.
Luke Howard's nomenclature that was formally proposed in 1802 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. The main representative cloud types
for each of these forms are
stratiform, cumuliform, stratocumuliform, cumulonimbiform, and
cirriform. Very low stratiform clouds that extend down to the Earth's surface
are given the common names fog and mist, but have no Latin names.