Project management performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project management performance - Essay Example These shortcomings increase the confounding effects of the productivity variables measured and analyzed. The figures calculated for each of the variables of productivity (factor productivity ratios) over a period of time can be systematically plotted to identify and predict a trend that shows change in productivity. The figures for each variable can be monitored individually or collectively with other variables. To monitor productivity over a period of one year productivity metrics for each month have to be calculated. The change in productivity (trend) between one month and another or across the 12 months can be identified by simply calculating the difference in the productivity metrics. The trend can be graphically represented by plotting the productivity metric over a period of year. Fig 1 shows a trend for multifactor (labor and capital) productivity ratio calculated for the months of January is 0.560, February 0.585, March 0.615, April 0.616, May 0.610, June 0.623, July 0.623, August 0.634, September 0.598, October 0.590, November 0.589 and December 0.590. Also for the trend ident ified to be more meaningful, the variable(s) plotted must be compared with productivity of other firms with factors similar to the one in question. This can be done by comparing the productivity metrics with external benchmarks. The last bar in Fig 1 represents the benchmark for similar (small catering/restaurants service). The operation manager of the food service unit can therefore comparatively monitor performance of the unit. The work of the operation manager can be made simpler if s/he uses Microsoft Project application to measure and monitor schedule performance of staff and inputs (monetized resources). This application will allow the manager to handle large variety of data and to (intra) extrapolate outcomes. The operation managers can use the information (factor

Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay

Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay Business strategy is an essential component to a firms business model and is a vital player in aiding the firm drive itself to achieve its mission. Through a clear business strategy a firm can derive its position in the long term and create a competitive advantage in the market for itself. In this essay we explore the business model of Ryanair and assess their strategy. Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline headquartered in Dublin founded in 1985. It operates 181 aircrafts over 729 routes across Europe and North Africa from 31 bases. Ryanair has seen large success over the recent years due to its low-cost business model and has become the worlds largest airline in terms of international passenger numbers. Taking Porters generic business strategies into consideration, Ryanair operates a cost-leadership strategy to drive itself into achieving its mission of being the leading European low-cost carrier (LCC). Throughout this essay the business strategy of Ryanair will be analysed and the sustainability of their model evaluated. Ryanairs objective is to firmly establish itself as Europes leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low-fares service (Ryanair). Considering their objectives and mission, Ryanairs decision on their cost-leadership strategy was based on a few main factors which are discussed below. A major influence was the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 which removed government intervention within the European continent. Under the new rules, routes and fare decisions were made by individual airlines which meant that they could compete on other factors besides food, cabin crew and frequency. As a result of deregulation, a large number of new airline start-ups emerged within the EU and competition among airlines increased dramatically resulting in downward price pressures. Ryanair was established to take full advantage of these market conditions. By offering low prices, Ryanair entered a huge and virtually unlimited market. Having seen the major success of the low cost carrier Southwest in the United States, Ryanair decided to follow in their footsteps by establishing a LCC for the European continent that targeted fare conscious leisure travellers and regular low cost business travellers. By doing this Ryanair became the first low-fare airline in Europe. However, they took the Southwest model further by offering no drinks and snacks at all and abolishing the frequent flyer program which Southwest up to this day offers its customers (Boesch 2007). The evaluation of Porters five forces influenced Ryanairs choice of a cost-leadership strategy, as the threat presented by new entrants and the threat of substitutes could hinder their success. The threat of new entrants is high within the aviation industry which meant that low fares would help drive away any further competition. The threat of substitutes to Ryanair had to also be carefully examined. Their primary market, Europe, had the availability of high speed trains and car holidays. For Ryanair to be successful, prices had to be low to attract the public, and resist strong competition from substitutes like Eurostar. As Europes largest low fare airline, Ryanairs competitive advantage remains in their ability to continue as cost leaders; providing the cheapest fares to its customers. This dictates that the company must minimise its own costs to ensure that they are able to offer customers the service at a price below their direct competitors. This leads us to consider some key functional strategies which directly help Ryanair towards their ultimate goal to be Europes leading low fares airline (Ryanair). The marketing strategy is perhaps the most obvious and significant functional strategy of Ryanair. Low fares are designed to stimulate demand, attracting fare-conscious travellers, those who may have used alternative forms of transportation or even those who may have not travelled at all. Penetration pricing as it is called helps gain market share and simply, more customers equals more revenue (Wheelen Hunger 2006). Tickets are almost solely sold on their website www.ryanair.com which very importantly keeps sales costs to a minimum since very few phone operators are employed and computers are able to cheaply handle all functions of sales. With ever increasing accessibility of the internet globally anybody with internet access can buy airline tickets from Ryanair, so distribution practically takes care of itself through this medium. Ryan Air relies on low cost promotions and in recent times has concentrated on their One million seats at one pound which is usually advertised through t heir internet site, national press and bulletin boards. It is the simplicity of this promotion which helps keep costs low since expensive advertising agencies can be entirely avoided and advertising can be dealt with in house. Ryanairs operations strateg1y determines how the airline will deploy its resources and the policies it will operate by. To keep costs low they operate a no frills service onboard aircraft. This means the fare only includes the flight. There are however a number of other measures directly related to a no frills service. These include ticketless boarding, unallocated seats, one class of travel, costs for check-in baggage, no refund policy, basic seats (to increase aircraft capacity) and charging for any additional service. All this significantly reduces costs to Ryanair. The Achilles heel of Ryanair is their greater aircraft utilisation through super quick turnaround times. Essentially this means the aircraft spends very little time on the ground, they achieve this through their human resource policies and by having none or very little cargo in the baggage hold to speed up loading and unloading of the aircraft. Logistics strategy deals with the flow of products into and out of Ryanair. Again there is heavy emphasis on cost saving and reducing measures. Ryanair fly to secondary airports which are potentially much further from the City centre but accessible enough by other forms of ground transportation. At these airports Ryanair are able to negotiate extremely aggressively and demand the lowest landing and handling fees. Additionally Ryanair is usually able to gain financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns at these airports. As cost leader Ryanair strives to undercut all its rivals but this means very low income per fare and requires maximum utilisation of its resources. Fortunately their financial policy ensures they are able to still profit handsomely from rock bottom fares. The aim is to breakeven on fares but to make their profits out of ancillary charges and commissions from their partners. Ryanair has a number of affiliates such as Hertz car rental, Acumus insurance and booking.com all of whom are advertised readily on the Ryanair website. Since the website has high website traffic its partners are able to reach out to Ryanairs huge client base and are prepared to pay good commissions to the firm for this privilege (IdeaWorks). Ryanair also generate income from advertising on board the aircraft. Ancillary revenue is generated from many of the services that traditional airlines wouldnt charge for, such as large baggage into the cargo hold, allocated seating, snacks and drinks. Ryanairs strategy when purchasing aircraft is to buy new, uniform aircraft. This is beneficial for a number of reasons all of which directly help cost saving measures. Firstly, by being able to order same aircraft in bulk they are able to negotiate a better price per aircraft. Secondly, uniform aircraft mean that there are potential savings in staff training; air stewards being more familiar with all aircraft and maintenance will be simpler. Finally by buying new, the company has safer, more fuel efficient planes with lower maintenance costs. Safer aircraft also means greater consumer confidence, equating to more fare sales. Furthermore Ryanair aggressively hedge and fix as many of their costs as possible, such as oil and aircraft prices so they are not subject to future price fluctuations which could adversely affect profitability (Stone 2008). The human resource policy is again directly related to reducing costs. Employees are expected to pay for their own uniform and equipment. Training given is the required minimum and staff utilisation is among the highest in the airline industry. Many staff are employed on performance contracts and those who do not meet their expectations are readily replaced. Staff are also expected to take on a number of roles, cabin staff will also clean the aircraft prior to the next service, check in staff assist in boarding the aircraft etc. Ryanair has successfully experienced years of growth both in the number of its aircrafts and passengers since its launch.   However, with the global financial system recently suffering its greatest crisis in more than 70 years, existing business models of many aviation firms are coming under great strain. As this economic downturn bankrupts LCCs like XL and Zoom with more expected to follow, the question is whether Ryanairs cost-leadership strategy is sustainable or not as it continues to offer lower fares in the face of high costs. Although Ryanair has posted losses along with other aviation firms for the latest quarter, it is expected to emerge from this downturn with fewer competitors because its à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.8 billon balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry. Additionally, as the credit crunch takes its toll, traditional airlines are not in a position to cut fares and the threat of new LCCs is virtually eliminated due to the lack of financing. Although Ryanair f aces competition from substitutes like Eurostar, it is at an advantage because of Eurostars limited destinations.   Ryanair is sticking to its mantra, when the going gets tough, sell more seats for almost nothing (Symonds 2008). By offering low fares, Ryanair expects passengers to trade down to the low cost airlines rather than stop flying completely. This trend appears accurate so far based on passenger numbers as recession forces millions of passengers to focus on price (Waterman 2009). Additionally, the latest statistics from The European Low Fares Airline Association members show a 15.7% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers for 2008, indicating that the LCC model is robust, even in times of crisis (Latest 2009). Consequently, there is no doubt that Ryanair looks poised for substantial profits and passenger growth in the coming years. However, in order to compete with other LCCs and maintain its continued market share growth in the future, Ryanair needs to improve its poor customer relations. The sustainability of Ryanairs cost leadership strategy also depends largely on the price of oil and how effective the firm is in cutting costs in order to continue offering low fares. According to the firms latest financial report, Ryanair will enjoy significantly lower oil costs thanks to their recent hedging programme, when most of their competitors are already hedged at much higher prices. These lower prices will drive Ryanairs traffic growth, maintain high load factors and capture market share from higher cost fuel surcharging competitors (3rd Quarter Results 2009). In order to cut costs, Ryanair plans to close all its airport check-in desks by the end of 2009 and have passengers check-in online instead. Other cost saving methods not yet implemented include charging customers for using toilets on airplanes (Lalor 2009). These cost cutting ideas are not very popular among consumers and it means that Ryanair needs to improve its already tarnished brand image in the future which it had attained through negative press reporting and misleading advertisements. The current strategy at Ryanair is expected to work so well that despite the recession Ryanairs CEO has underlined the firms commitment to expansion. The firm is expected to grow at 20 percent a year because of a 180 aircrafts on order from Boeing. These expansion plans for the future will require the company to increase its landing slots at airports and recruit more employees. Currently Ryanair has limited access to landing slots in major airports and the secondary airports are long distances away from city centres which could make it less attractive in the future.   However, a remarkable cut in flights by other European airline carriers due to recession is creating enormous opportunities for Ryanair, as many major airports compete to reduce charges in order to attract Ryanairs growth (3rd Quarter Results 2009). Availability of skilled personnel shouldnt be a problem for Ryanair due to recent high unemployment levels. However, Ryanair needs to improve its current low level of empa thy for employees if it is to retain them in the future. Even though Ryanairs cost leadership strategy is robust and it looks set to serve them well in the future, there are some key areas within the business that can be improved on to enhance the firms profitability and brand image. Ryanair has always been criticised for many aspects of its poor customer relations. According to The Economist, Ryanairs cavalier treatment of passengers had given Ryanair a deserved reputation for nastiness and that the airline has become a byword for appalling customer service   and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way (Aviation 2007). If Ryanair is to maintain its large customer base, it needs to ensure that it acknowledges its customers concerns and maintains a service focused attitude at all costs. Ryanair needs to invest in servicing customers better by providing a non-premium contact number, improving its non user friendly website, and simplifying the terms and conditions of the flight service. Ryanair should also create a frequent flyer program to establish a fixed customer base and encourage customer loyalty. Ryanair is notorious for its high staff turnover which negatively affects its reputation as an employer. Over utilization of employees, poor remuneration package, and minimal training are a few other critical items to be considered by Ryanair if it is to retain employees in the future. Ryanair needs to understand that although it is currently possible to replace outgoing employees, but with time Ryanairs overall image will be tarnished. Resultantly, attracting new employees could become impossible and this will hinder their expansion plans. Ryanair should incorporate a flexible benefits package solely designed to improve employee morale such as flexible working hours and extra holidays. To improve its image amongst employees, training at all employee levels must include exposure to similar techniques and methods that help promote the development of a uniform company identity. Following huge success in Europe, Ryanair should consider introducing low cost transatlantic flights to support its expansion plans and attain a larger customer base. With a high demand for certain routes like London-New York and room for negotiation in airplane prices and airport slots mainly due to the current financial climate, it is an ideal time to further reap the rewards of the cost leadership strategy that has served Ryanair so well over the years. Ryanairs model looks set to survive the current industrial downturn through its lower costs and substantial cash balances. No airline is better placed in Europe than Ryanair to trade through this downturn. It will therefore continue to grow, by lowering fares, taking market share from competitors, and expanding in markets where competitors either withdraw capacity or go bust (Monaghan 2008). By taking the recommended improvements into consideration, it looks like Ryanairs cost leadership strategy seems ideal for the future. Word Count: 2,493

Emotional devleopment in children Essay -- essays research papers

Emotional development is a major factor in the overall development of a child. It is believed that emotional and social development are very closely entwined. Child experts and psychologists agree that emotions are vital in a child’s life and to be able to promote a healthy social development a child must learn how to correctly find solutions to interpersonal problems. Moreover, research shows when parents display higher levels of warmth and positive interaction children are more likely to exhibit social competence, higher self-esteem, and emotional understanding.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Play is an important part of emotional-social development. Play can act as a way for children to reveal their innermost feelings and express thought. As defined by the text, play is â€Å"voluntary activities done for enjoyment or recreation that are not performed for any sake beyond themselves.† Children move through different levels of play as they mature. One form of play which scientists have become increasingly interested in is imaginative play. With imagination children learn how to be creative. Many children between ages 3-5 create imaginary friends for themselves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Though play is often accepted and encouraged by western industrialized cultures it often times is not accepted by families of other cultures. Parents of such westernized cultures tend to support freedom of expression, independence, individuality, etc., known as individualism. On the other ha...

A Doll’s House: Nora’s Character Essay

From the first moments of her entrance, the audience perceives Nora Helmer as a spoiled, childish young woman. She is revealed as a loving woman who wants to spoil her family with more Christmas gifts that she may be able to afford. She also continues to eat macaroons in secret, deliberately against her husband’s wishes, which shows a child’s stubbornness and determination. Throughout Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, Nora Helmer grows from what the audience perceives as a flighty, immature child to a level-headed, mature woman. After the entrance of Mrs. Linde, Nora’s childhood friend, the audience learns that Nora has borrowed money – something that women of that time were not permitted to do. Not only did she borrow money, but she borrowed it through an unscrupulous banker that Torvald works with, Krogstad. Although her intentions were admirable, Nora’s partaking in an illegal practice showed more immaturity on her part. Having to lie to Torvald about what she was doing with the money he gave her only further proves that she was not capable of handling such a serious transaction. During Nora’s talks with Torvald over Krogstad, Torvald says, â€Å"Almost everyone who goes bad early in life has a mother who’s a chronic liar† (Ibsen 1527). This news causes Nora to panic and shut down all contact with her three children. While a statement such as that does warrant some kind of reaction, Nora’s extreme actions show a blind confidence in her husband’s words. She believes that everything he says must be gospel. If she had more knowledge of being a mother, she would have known that she could challenge his bold words. Although many people are able to see goodness in others no matter how slight it may be, Nora blindly assumes that because she has three small children, Krogstad will not reveal their transaction to Torvald or the authorities. At the beginning of Act II, she says, â€Å"Nothing terrible could happen. It’s impossible. Why, I have three small children† (Ibsen 1527). A more experienced woman would know that nothing, not even something as sweet and innocent as children, can get in the way of a desperate man. From Act II to the end of the play, Nora continually refers to a miracle. It seems that she wished Torvald would take care of the whole situation with Krogstad once he found out about it and love and praise her for her sacrifice. After he outright condemns her, calling her a criminal and a liar, Torvald accuses Nora of wrecking his happiness, tells her she must never see the children, and blames her father’s parenting for the entire situation. When Nora realizes Torvald is not going to suffer for her sake or take on her guilt, something in her snaps. Even after they get Krogstad’s note back and burn it, she knows things cannot remain how they have been in the past. She says, â€Å"I’ve been your doll-wife here, just as at home I was Papa’s doll-child† (Ibsen 1552). By the final scenes of the play, the audience watches as Nora blossoms into a strong, independent woman. She refuses any money that Torvald offers her, and finally challenges some of his words. She tells him that he may have the strength to â€Å"make himself over† if his â€Å"doll gets taken away† (Ibsen 1555). That small exchange proves that she is not merely running from her problems, but she genuinely wants Torvald and herself to have a chance to change. At last she walks out the door but leaves Torvald with the hope that someday they might have a true marriage. She sighs, â€Å"You and I both would have to transform ourselves to the point that†¦ That our living together could be a true marriage† (Ibsen 1556).

Nature of Accounting and the Accounting Standard

Nature of Accounting and the Accounting Standard Background Accounting is an important part for business and it is dubbed â€Å"language† of business activities conducted by firms. People think it is used to communicate business transactions per se to all stakeholders. However, some people argue that the functions of accounting are not that easy. Except the communication tool, accounting acts as many other difference roles in business. When doing accounting, different standard may be used. There are many issues about accounting standard nowadays.To getting a subjective view of accounting, it is necessary to understand how accounting is worked. This essay will analyze the application of accounting in the various situations to reach a conclusion. It will give some perspective for accounting also. Firm as an accounting object As we know, accounting was widely used in the firm. In accounting, firm means some business entity aiming at earning economic profit. In general, there are three types of firms: proprietorship, partnership and corporation. Firms are classified by the types of ownership, limitation of liability and so on.According to Scott Besley (2007), a proprietorship and partnership is an unincorporated business. Proprietorship firm owned by one individual while partnership owned by two or more people. A corporation is â€Å"a legal entity by a state†. The owners and managers may not be the same person. Corporation have unlimited life and enjoin limited liability. Owners have no responsibility for liabilities of the corporation. However, for proprietorship and partnership, owners must payback all liability of creditor. Although there are various classifications for firm, its object is quite same.The general object of a commerce firm is earning profit. However, firms cannot just focus on the financial income. There are many other aspects must consider. The firm which is just care about financial achievement will suffer form ethic dilemma. Dobs on (1997) defined the behavior that firm just consider about self-interest individualistic and opportunistic as â€Å"finance paradigm†. He criticized that it would cause another lost for people. To be an ethic firm, it should select object carefully to maximize the benefit for all relevant people.Rather than running business individually, people do commerce via firm. Firms exist because it can provide a more efficiency operation environment for people. However, even if firms can offer a better way for people doing business, we shouldn’t ignore the troubles arising from it. Accounting and transaction Transaction plays a special role in firm’s daily operation. In general meaning, transaction is exchange of goods or services between entities, as well as other events that have an economic impact on a business.It is a business’s economic record by accounting (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2011). It should be clarify that not all events generated in business proc ess can be record. Accounting must considers about what transaction should record and how it is record. There are two major assumptions about whether transaction should be record. The first one is monetary unit assumption. In accounting, we just record the transaction data which can be express in money term (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2011). Another assumption is economic entity assumption.Accountant must just account the transaction relevant to certain firm. The active of its owner or other economic entity should not be record in the firm’s account (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2011). In addition, such action must affect the component of accounting equation dually. That means it should affect assts, liability or equity. Measurement method in accounting As it mentioned before, the major object of account is identify, record and communicate the transaction. In real life, the environment for accounting is changing continuously.So, accountant should know how to record and measure transaction properly. To facing price changing, there are two major approaches to record and measure transaction: historical cost principle and fair value principle. When using historical cost principle, companies record assets as its cost (Weygandt, Kimmel, & Kieso, 2011). That means if the value of goods in such transaction is changing, it will keep the original record of such goods. However, we should update the record of assets value according to the market price in fair value principle.When managers decide which standard should be used, there are various factors need to be consider. Inflation is necessary for measurement method decision. Alhashim & Arpan (1992) claimed that when price is stable, the historical cost principle could provide an objective view for company’s performance. Managers may prefer this method to measure transaction. However, study also show that when it is high inflation, using historical cost principle will provide some useless information. If the price is changing frequently, the historical cost principle will not suitable.For example, in British, because it was suffer from high inflation rate in the history, the accounting standard in this country select fair-value principle. (Alhashim & Arpan, 1992) Cost measurement is an important part in accounting. Since the component of cost for business is complex, it will select material cost for example. There are two common principles for material cost evaluation. One is average value method, another is FIFO method. Company’s objective should be considered when choosing those approaches of cost measurement.When using average cost method, company’s income statement will show lower income so that company will enjoin lower tax. However, when firm choosing FIFO method, they will pay higher tax because of the high income present by income statement. When company wants to reduce tax cost, they may choose average cost method. Otherwise, they will choose FIFO method to attrac t investment by showing well performance. Except form pervious example discussed, there are many other factors could affect the measurement method.For example, David Solomons (1970) think that feasibility like objective, low cost of implementation and ease of understanding for users will affect the judgment for measurement method. In different condition, managers will choose different principle. So, it is difficult to say which principle is better. Conclusion By analyze relevant item of accounting, the perspective of accounting is more clearly now. Transaction is a vital component of accounting and there are various principles about it. However, accounting is related to other aspects also. Merely defined accounting as analyzing transaction per se is not false but not objectively.Communication is also a vital part of account. It is properly to descript accounting as a â€Å"language† of business. As mention before, there are many communicating methods and standards for account ing. Different regions may have different accounting â€Å"language† (Alhashim & Arpan, 1992). It is a challenge for current international company. To solve this problem, it is necessary to build and spread a unified standard for international accounting right now. Reference Alhashim, D. D. , & Arpan, J. S. (1992). International dimensions of accounting. Boston: PWS-KENT publishing company.Dobson, J. (1997). Finance ethics: the rationality of virtue. Cummor Hill, Oxford OX2 9JJ, England: Lanham [u. a. ] : Rowman & Littlefield. Scott Besley, E. F. (2007). Essentials of Managerial Finance. Natorp Boulevasr, Mason OH: South Westren College. Solomons, D. (1970). Assets valuation and income determination: appraising the alternative. In R. R. Sterling, Assets valuation and income determination (p. 105). 4431 Mt. Vernon, Houston, Texas: Scholar Book Co. Weygandt, J. J. , Kimmel, P. D. , & Kieso, D. E. (2011). Financial Accounting. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Reflections on Federal Immigration Policy essay

Reflections on Federal Immigration Policy essay Reflections on Federal Immigration Policy essay Reflections on Federal Immigration Policy essayThe major current federal immigration policy issues include illegal immigration, overcrowding, investment policy issues, national security and terrorism, and other issues. As the United States is considered to be the nation of immigrants, the federal immigration policy should be well-developed to address the needs of American citizens (Theodoulou    Kofinis, 2013).   Moreover, the federal immigration policy is closely connected with employment issues because those people who come to the United States with the intention to work and stay there should be useful to our state. In addition, racial and religious biases are linked to immigration policy. I feel concerned about related issues that relate to current federal immigration policy.Undoubtedly, if anything is changing in the current federal immigration policy, it will affect me personally because I am an American citizen and any changes in the governmental policies may have either po sitive or negative consequences for me, my family and the whole American society. For example, the permission to continue illegal immigration may have negative impact on my employment, security and even my health.My thoughts prior to reading this week’s reading assignments were vague about the nature immigration policy. Now I realize that it is necessary to understand the complexity of the immigration policy making process. The U.S. government should address the needs and requirements of citizens, providing the proper opportunities for the development of the nation in today’s global context. Immigration issues should not lead to economic decline of the country. As a result, it is necessary to follow current federal immigration laws. In general, my perspective has been reinforced now that I am more informed. I realize that illegal immigration is an issue of public concern that requires adequate response of the U.S. government.

Understanding the Glow of Noctilucent Clouds

Understanding the Glow of Noctilucent Clouds Each summer, people who live at high latitudes north and south of the equator are treated to a fantastically beautiful phenomenon called noctilucent clouds. These arent clouds in the normal way we understand them. The clouds were more familiar with are generally made of water droplets that have formed around particles of dust. Noctilucent clouds are generally made of ice crystals that formed around tiny dust particles in fairly cold temperatures. Unlike most clouds that float fairly close to the ground, they exist at heights up to 85 kilometers above the surface of our planet, high in the atmosphere that sustains life on Earth. They may look like thin cirrus that we can see throughout the day or night but are generally only visible when the Sun is no more than 16 degrees below the horizon. Clouds of the Night The term noctilucent means night-shining and it describes these clouds perfectly. They cant be seen during the day due to the brightness of the Sun. However, once the Sun sets, it illuminates these high-flying clouds from below. This explains why they can be seen in deep twilight. They typically have a bluish-white color and look very wispy. The History of Noctilucent Cloud Research Noctilucent clouds were first reported in 1885 and are sometimes linked with the eruption of the famous volcano, Krakatoa in 1883. However, its not clear that the eruption caused them - theres no scientific evidence to prove it one way or another. Their appearance may simply be coincidental. The idea that volcanic eruptions cause these clouds was heavily researched and eventually disproved in the 1920s. Since then, atmospheric scientists have studied noctilucent clouds using balloons, sounding rockets, and satellites. They seem to occur pretty frequently and are quite beautiful to observe. How Do Noctilucent Clouds Form? The ice particles that make up these shimmering clouds are quite small, only about 100 nm across. That many times smaller than the width of a human hair. They form when tiny particles of dust- possibly from bits of micro-meteors in the upper atmosphere- are coated with water vapor and frozen high in the atmosphere, in a region called the mesosphere. During local summer, that region of the atmosphere can be quite cold, and the crystals form at about -100 ° C. Noctilucent cloud formation seems to vary as the solar cycle does. In particular, as the Sun emits more ultraviolet radiation, it interacts with water molecules in the upper atmosphere and breaks them apart. That leaves less water to form the clouds during times of increased activity. Solar physicists and atmospheric scientists are tracking solar activity and noctilucent cloud formation to better understand the connection between the two phenomena. In particular, they are interested in learning why changes in these peculiar clouds dont show up until about a year after UV levels change. Interestingly, when NASAs space shuttles were flying, their exhaust plumes (which were nearly all water vapor) froze high in the atmosphere and created very short-lived mini noctilucent clouds. The same thing has happened with other launch vehicles since the shuttle era. However, launches are few and far between. The phenomenon of noctilucent clouds predates launches and aircraft. However, the short-lived noctilucent clouds from launch activities provide more data points about the atmospheric conditions that help them form. Noctilucent Clouds and Climate Change There may be a connection between the frequent formation of noctilucent clouds and climate change. NASA and other space agencies have been studying Earth for many decades and observing  the effects of global warming. However, the evidence is still being gathered, and the link between the clouds and warming remains a relatively controversial suggestion. Scientists are following up on all the evidence to see if there is a definite link. One possible theory is that methane (a greenhouse gas implicated in climate change) migrates to the area of the atmosphere where these clouds form. Greenhouse gases are thought to force temperature changes in the mesosphere, causing it to cool down. That cooling would contribute to the formation of ice crystals that make up the noctilucent clouds. An increase in water vapor (also due to human activities that produce greenhouse gases) would be part of the noctilucent cloud connection to climate change. Much work needs to be done to prove these connecti ons. Regardless of how these clouds form, they remain a favorite of sky watchers, particularly sunset-gazers and amateur observers. Just as some people chase eclipses or remain out late at night to see meteor showers, there are many who live in the high northern and southern latitudes and actively seek out the sight of noctilucent clouds. Theres no doubt of their magnificent beauty, but they are also an indicator of activities in our planets atmosphere.