We have detected over 400 H i clouds in the lower halo of the Galaxy within the pilot region of the Galactic All-Sky Survey ( GASS ) , a region of the fourth quadrant that spans 18 \arcdeg in longitude , 40 \arcdeg in latitude and is centered on the Galactic equator .
These clouds have a median peak brightness temperature of 0.6 K , a median velocity width of 12.8 km s ^ { -1 } , and angular sizes \lesssim 1 \arcdeg .
The motion of these clouds is dominated by Galactic rotation with a random cloud-to-cloud velocity dispersion of 18 km s ^ { -1 } .
A sample of clouds likely to be near tangent points was analyzed in detail .
These clouds have radii on the order of 30 pc and a median H i mass of 630 M _ { \odot } .
The population has a vertical scale height of 400 pc and is concentrated in Galactocentric radius , peaking at R = 3.8 kpc .
This confined structure suggests that the clouds are linked to spiral features , while morphological evidence that many clouds are aligned with loops and filaments is suggestive of a relationship with star formation .
The clouds might result from supernovae and stellar winds in the form of fragmenting shells and gas that has been pushed into the halo rather than from a galactic fountain .