![Oberfallenberg 8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Oberfallenberg_8.jpg)
Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
suspended in the cold
air
The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
, usually by
condensation
Condensation is the change of the state of matter from the gas phase into the liquid phase, and is the reverse of vaporization. The word most often refers to the water cycle. It can also be defined as the change in the state of water vapor to ...
. Physically, it is an example of a
dispersion
Dispersion may refer to:
Economics and finance
*Dispersion (finance), a measure for the statistical distribution of portfolio returns
*Price dispersion, a variation in prices across sellers of the same item
*Wage dispersion, the amount of variatio ...
. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such as in
exhale
Exhalation (or expiration) is the flow of the breath out of an organism. In animals, it is the movement of air from the lungs out of the airways, to the external environment during breathing.
This happens due to elastic properties of the lungs, ...
d air in the winter, or when throwing water onto the hot stove of a
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
. It can be created artificially with
aerosol canisters if the
humidity
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present.
Humidity depe ...
and
temperature
Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer.
Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...
conditions are right. It can also occur as part of natural
weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...
, when
humid air cools rapidly, notably when the air comes into contact with surfaces that are much cooler than the air (e.g. mountains).
The formation of mist, as of other
suspensions
In chemistry, a suspension is a heterogeneous mixture of a fluid that contains solid particles sufficiently large for sedimentation. The particles may be visible to the naked eye, usually must be larger than one micrometer, and will eventually ...
, is greatly aided by the presence of
nucleation site
In thermodynamics, nucleation is the first step in the formation of either a new thermodynamic phase or structure via self-assembly or self-organization within a substance or mixture. Nucleation is typically defined to be the process that dete ...
s on which the suspended water phase can congeal. Thus even such unusual sources of nucleation as small particulates from
volcanic eruption
Several types of volcanic eruptions—during which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic bombs and volcanic blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure—have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often ...
s, releases of
strongly polar gases, and even the
magnetospheric
In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo ...
ions associated with
polar lights
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of br ...
can in right conditions trigger condensation and the formation of mist.
Mist is commonly confused with
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
, which resembles a
stratus cloud
Stratus clouds are low-level clouds characterized by horizontal layering with a uniform base, as opposed to convective or cumuliform clouds that are formed by rising thermals. More specifically, the term ''stratus'' is used to describe flat, haz ...
lying at ground level. These two phenomena differ, but share some commonalities; similar processes form both fog and mist. Fog is denser, more opaque, and generally lasts a longer time, while mist is thinner and more transparent.
Description
Cloud cover
Cloud cover (also known as cloudiness, cloudage, or cloud amount) refers to the fraction of the sky obscured by clouds on average when observed from a particular location. Okta is the usual unit for measurement of the cloud cover. The cloud co ...
is often referred to as "mist" when encountered on surfaces of mountains, whereas moisture suspended above a
body of water
A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...
, cleared or
marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...
area is usually called "fog". One main difference between mist and
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
is
visibility
The visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. In meteorology it depends on the transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the ambient light level or time of ...
. The phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is or less. In the United Kingdom, the definition of fog is visibility less than on the surface for driving purposes, UK Highway Code rule 226, while for pilots the distance is 1 km at cruising height. Otherwise, it is known as mist.
Mist makes a
light beam
A light beam or beam of light is a directional projection of light energy radiating from a light source. Sunlight forms a light beam (a sunbeam) when filtered through media such as clouds, foliage, or windows. To artificially produce a light ...
visible from the side via
refraction
In physics, refraction is the redirection of a wave as it passes from one medium to another. The redirection can be caused by the wave's change in speed or by a change in the medium. Refraction of light is the most commonly observed phenomeno ...
and
scattering
Scattering is a term used in physics to describe a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including ...
on the suspended water droplets, and
rainbows
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows cau ...
can be possibly created.
"Scotch mist" is a light steady drizzle that appears like mist.
Mist usually occurs near the shores and is often associated with fog. Mist can be as high as mountain tops when extreme temperatures are low and strong condensation occurs.
Freezing mist is similar to
freezing fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influe ...
, only the density is less and the visibility
greater. When fog falls below
0°C, it is known as freezing fog, however it still stays suspended).
Gallery
File:Mist - Ensay region3.jpg, Mist lying in the folds of hills, Australia
File:Fog in Albuquerque - AAfog3.jpg, Sunlight through mist on a crisp winter morning in New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
File:Misty morning02.jpg, Misty morning at Swifts Creek
File:Herbert Lake beim Icefields Parkway.jpg, Mist on a lake in Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada
File:NeblinaJBCuritiba2.JPG, Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
, Brazil
File:Labugama26.jpg, Labugama
Labugama ( si, ලබුගම, ta, லாபுகம) is a village in Sri Lanka. It is located within Western Province.
See also
*List of towns in Western Province, Sri Lanka
Western Province is a province of Sri Lanka, containing the Colomb ...
, Sri Lanka
File:River Exe in mist - geograph.org.uk - 266487.jpg, River Exe in mist
See also
*
Aerosol
An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be natural or Human impact on the environment, anthropogenic. Examples of natural aerosols are fog o ...
*
Aeroponics
Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in the air or mist environment without soil or an aggregate medium. The word "aeroponic" is derived from the Greek meanings of ''aer'' ("air") and ''ponos'' ("labour"). It is a subset of hydroponics, ...
*
Brocken spectre
A Brocken spectre (British English; American spelling Brocken specter; german: Brockengespenst), also called Brocken bow, mountain spectre, or spectre of the Brocken is the magnified (and apparently enormous) shadow of an observer cast in mid ai ...
*
Drizzle
Drizzle is a light precipitation consisting of liquid water drops smaller than those of rain – generally smaller than in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation rates from dri ...
*
Fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
*
Haze
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification ...
*
Spray (disambiguation)
Spray or spraying commonly refer to:
* Spray (liquid drop)
** Aerosol spray
** Blood spray
** Hair spray
** Nasal spray
** Pepper spray
** PAVA spray
** Road spray or tire spray, road debris kicked up from a vehicle tire
** Sea spray, refers to ...
*
Rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
References
{{reflist
Air pollution
Fog
Psychrometrics