Augustin Jean Fresnel, Note on the article on the ascent of clouds
“ Moreover, if we note that the particles of the cloud, far from acting like a metallic mirror, disperse in all directions the radiant caloric that they reflect, and that being formed of liquid or solid water they have only a weak reflective power, we will perceive that a considerable part of the heat sent must come from the cloud's own temperature. ”
Augustin Jean Fresnel, Note on the article on the ascent of clouds
“ In the somewhat hasty composition of this article we said, on page 160, that experience directly proved that during the night the clouds still maintain a temperature higher than that of the surrounding air, since they send us more heat. To this reasoning one may object that all the excess heat is perhaps due to their reflective power. But then precisely because they reflect the radiant heat emanating from the globe better than does the surrounding air, they must appropriate more of it. ”
