I would say moisture condensing is a direct result of temperature and an indirect result of height
Exactly, but in most cases i.e. when there is no fog, the cloud is formed by rising air.
The effects of the boundary layer i.e. the air directly in contact with, and affected by the Earth's surface are seldom mentioned in any aviation met text books, but were of great interest to the scientists at the Met Office. Kinetic heating is one of the factors.