Anthropogenic cloud
The intermediate layers of the troposphere are the regions with less influence of human activity. This region is far enough from the surface for not being affected by the surface emissions. Additionally, commercial and military flights only cross this region during ascending or descending maneuvers. Moreover, in this region there exist two types of clouds with a large horizontal extension: "Nimbostratus" and "Altostratus", which cannot originate from human activity. Consequently, it is assumed that there are no anthropic clouds of these two "genera". However, what can occur is enhancing existing "Nimbostratus" or "Altostratus" due to the additional water vapor or condensation nuclei emitted by a thermal power plant, for instance.
Cloud condensation nuclei
There are many different types of atmospheric particulates that can act as CCN. The particles may be composed of dust or clay, soot or black carbon from grassland or forest fires, sea salt from ocean wave spray, soot from factory smokestacks or internal combustion engines, sulfate from volcanic activity, phytoplankton or the oxidation of sulfur dioxide and secondary organic matter formed by the oxidation of volatile organic compounds. The ability of these different types of particles to form cloud droplets varies according to their size and also their exact composition, as the hygroscopic properties of these different constituents are very different. Sulfate and sea salt, for instance, readily absorb water whereas soot, organic carbon and mineral particles do not. This is made even more complicated by the fact that many of the chemical species may be mixed within the particles (in particular the sulfate and organic carbon). Additionally, while some particles (such as soot and minerals) do not make very good CCN, they do act as ice nuclei in colder parts of the atmosphere.