Cloud atlas

In the late 19th century, Clement Ley and Ralph Abercromby contributed to building a classification for clouds..[2] Ley's book, Cloudland, was influential among meteorologists, while Abercromby wrote scientific papers on the subject, stressing that clouds are the same everywhere in the world (a novel observation at the time)[citation needed].

In 1891 the International Meteorological Conference at Munich recommended the general adoption of Abercromby and Hildebrandsson's classification system.

[5] It was an expensive quarto book of chromolithographs reproducing 10 color oil paintings and 12 photographs for comparison, and was designed to explore the advantages and disadvantages of photography for the scientific illustration of cloud forms.

[6] Its printing was limited but as a proof of concept it was a great success, leading directly to the International Cloud Atlas.

[7] This was prepared by Hildebrandsson, Riggenbach, and Leon Teisserenc de Bort, members of the Clouds Commission of the International Meteorological Committee.