Cirrus Clouds (Ci)
Cirrus Fibratus
Cirrus Floccus
Cirrus Spissatus
Cirrus Strat_Undulatus
Cirrus Uncinus
Jetstream Cirrus
Jetstream Cirrus II
Thin Cirrus
Thick Cirrus
Cirrus near Aircraft
Tropical Cirrus
Special Cirrus
Overview


Optical Thick Cirrus Clouds


ThickCirr1.jpg

ThickCirr2.jpg

ThickCirr3.jpg

ThickCirr4.jpg

ThickCirr5.jpg

ThickCirr6.jpg

ThickCirr7.jpg

ThickCirr8.jpg

For the flight from Nice to Frankfurt a flight path via the Pyrenees (ThickCirr1.jpg) and the French Atlantic Coast was chosen. In the region of the Pyrenees optically thick Cirrus clouds (Cirrostratus) occurred above the cruising altitude of approximately 11 km. Sometimes virgas came up, wherein ice-particles declined from the clouds (ThickCirr5.jpg).

Because of the darkness (which fooled the exposure automation of the camera), the interior aircraft lighting and the low camera resolution (1.8 mega pixels) the images seem to be slightly "fuzzy". ThickCirr7.jpg and ThickCirr8.jpg which were taken with a D-SLR at cruising altitude have better quality. In ThickCirr7.jpg the shadow produced by the cloud at its base level can be clearly noticed.

ThickCirr1-6.jpg: S. Borrmann, flight from Nice to Frankfurt, 6:46 p.m. to 7:13 p.m., 13 April 2003

ThickCirr7+8.jpg: S. Borrmann, flight from Frankfurt to Philadelphia, 6 December 2004, 2:50 p.m. and 3:25 p.m.