The Amateur Cloud Society That (Sort Of) Rattled the Scientific Community (2016) | Hacker News Reader

The Amateur Cloud Society That (Sort Of) Rattled the Scientific Community (2016)

nytimes.com

17 pointsTomte4 comments

Here's a particularly dramtic asperitas cloud, from NASA's astronomy picture of the day:

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130227.html

If you love clouds, then you'll love New Zealand.

I did some flying down there, and not only do you see every type of cloud in a day, they change from one minute to the next.

IFR (I Follow Roads) navigation is still acceptable in NZ when the clouds come down to tree-top height and you're in a valley.

One of the most fantastic times of my life was flying a small airplane from North Island to South Island and back over the huge crater lakes. And lots of sheep!

Once flew with a guy in the now defunct CAF of NZ (redubbed Black Sheep Wing) from Auckland to Nelson and the general landscape resembled a beautiful stylized golf course (with a zillion sheep) . If you want a spooky sensation try flying from Dunedin to Christchurch, low (not too low) over the Banks Peninsula around sunset in October when the advection fog starts oozing down the mountain slopes. Reminds you of the old Steve McQueen grade B SF movie 'The Crawling Eye'.

The sepia laden cloud formation is reminiscent of the 'Nature of Trees' calendar composed by photographer Paul Kozal. Be interesting if the Cloud Appreciation Society did a 'Nature of Clouds' yearly calendar using the archives of .jpg-s they've amassed. Easy enough to render in a wistful sepia motif via Adobe:

<color> .jpg > Image > Adjustments > Black and White

then

Image > Adjustments > Photo Filter > Sepia (Density 65 pct)

Was wondering what that could look like so created a mockup using an old 'Nature of Trees' .jpg:

original 'Nature of Trees' calendar page:

         https://www.irista.com/gallery/2ednmcepwi1y

mockup of 'Nature of Clouds' calendar page:

    https://www.irista.com/gallery/qpi3ue2ucpn0

There might be a market for it and maybe a useful source of funds for their Society.

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