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Aviation Glossary :: Base of Clouds  Aviation Glossary :: Base of Clouds FAA Written Test Preparation
Aviation Glossary Welcome to the Dauntless Aviation Glossary!

At Dauntless, our editorial staff maintains the web's largest unified glossary of aviation terms. This glossary is built from a combination of official, quasi-official, and proprietary sources (including original material that we develop oursselves). Uniquely, we often provide multiple definitions of a given term so that you can find that which best applies to you. In order to maximize your learning efficiency, this glossary (and similar ones for our international users) is incresingly fully integrated into our aviation learning apps, including our FAA written test prep and FAA practical test prep software and apps. If you like this glossary, you'll love them with their polished learning environments and world's best and clearest content (please do give them a try.).

Base of Clouds
Base of Clouds
The cloud base (or the base of the cloud) is the lowest altitude of the visible portion of the cloud. It is traditionally expressed either in m or feet above mean sea level (or planetary surface), or as the corresponding pressure level in hectopascal (hPa, equivalent to millibar).

The height of the cloud base can be measured using a ceilometer. This device reflects a beam of light off the cloud base and then calculates its distance using either triangulation or travel time.

Alternatively, the cloud base can be estimated from surface measurements of air temperature and humidity by calculating the lifted condensation level. One method for doing this is as follows:

  1. Find the difference between the surface temperature and the dew point. This value is known as the "spread".
  2. Divide the spread by 4.4 (if temperatures are in °F) or 2.5 (if temperatures are in °C), then multiply by 1000. This will give you cloud base in feet AGL (Above Ground Level). A shortcut to the above method when temperatures is measured in °C is to simply multiply the spread by 400.
  3. Add the results from step (2) to the Field Elevation (ft) to get cloud base ASL (Above Sea Level)
source: Wikitionary / Wikipedia and Related Sources (Edited)

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