Atmospheric Stability

Khalid Aljahwari
Credit: Cliff F. Mass
 Atmospheric Stability

Why do cumulus clouds develop?

Why are temperature inversions
associated with air pollution?
Why do hot air or helium balloons
rise?
 Atmospheric Vertical Stability
• A stable atmosphere has weak or little mixing
in the vertical
• An unstable atmosphere has a large amount
of mixing in the vertical
 Why is this Important?
• A stable atmosphere is associated with air
pollution, fog, and strong surface
temperature inversions in winter.
• An unstable atmosphere is associated with
lots of atmospheric mixing, with good air
quality and sometimes
convection/thunderstorms.
• Meteorologists spend a lot of time trying to
figure out whether the atmosphere will be
stable or unstable
Stable Situation
Stable
Stable
Unstable
Unstable
Unstable
Unstable
 Atmospheric Stability
At various times, the atmosphere can be:
stable
unstable
neutral
 Stable and Unstable Analogs
If you push something in a stable situation, it will return to its
original location, the opposite during unstable conditions.
 Neutral
Move it and it will stay in the place you left it.
In the real atmosphere, we don’t
deal with rocks, but with air
parcels
• Reminder. An air parcel is an identifiable
collection of air…think of a balloon.
• As we discuss stability, we need to keep in
mind some essential ideas.
 Essential Ideas

The density of an air parcel

depends on its temperature
– Increase temperature
>balloon expands> less
dense
– Decrease temperature >
balloon shrinks> more
dense
 Essential Ideas
The equation that expresses this
relationship is the perfect (or ideal)
gas law.
P =rRT
– P is pressure (Nm-2), r is density
(mass/volume, kg m-3), T is
temperature (°K), R is the gas constant
 Essential Ideas
With a little algebra, you can solve for
density:
r = P/(RT)
Thus, holding pressure constant, if T
increases than r (density) decreases
(less dense)

This is going to be important!

 An Important Point
• There is a distinction (and often a difference)
between conditions within an air parcel and
its surrounding environment.
• Not necessarily the same!

Air parcel
environment
 Te is not necessarily the same as Tp

Te Tp Temperature
Of the Air Parcel

Up Temperature
Of the Environment

In contrast, the pressure in the parcel and the

environment at the same level are generally the same
Now let’s understand stability
 Basic Rules

If an air parcel is warmer

than its surrounding
environment, then it is less
dense than the
environment at that level
and tends to rise.
 Basic Rules

If an air parcel is the same

temperature as the
environment at that level,
it has the same density as
the environment at that
level and will stay in the
same position.
 Basic Rules

If an air parcel is colder

than the environment at
the same level, it is denser
than the environment and
tends to sink.
 None of this should surprise you.
• A hot air balloon is
warmer and less dense
than the environment
and rises.
• A lead balloon sinks
• A helium balloon rises
because helium is less
dense than than the
gases in the atmosphere.
But why does hot, less-dense air
rise?

And why doesn’t all the air in the

atmosphere fall down to the
surface?
Why doesn’t
the
atmosphere
collapse?
 And why does a parcel of less
dense air rise?
Imagine an air parcel with the same density as
the environment (re =rp)
PT
environment
Parcel Upward
re rp Pressure
Force
PB > PT, so there is an
upward force PB
That balances out the
weight. Stays put Weight
 Hydrostatic Balance
• The difference in pressure between the top
and bottom of the air parcel produces an
upward-directed pressure gradient force.
• This force balances gravity (the weight of the
air parcel)
• Called HYDROSTATIC BALANCE.
• Most of the atmosphere is in hydrostatic
balance and that is why the atmosphere
doesn’t collapse.
But what happens if an air parcel
is warmer than the environment?
• Example, a hot air
balloon
• An air parcel can be
warmed by a number of
processes (e.g., warm
surface, latent heating,
etc.)
 Warmer than the environment
If the parcel warms, its density becomes less.
Consider a parcel warmer than the environment.
PT
environment

re rP2 Parcel
PB > PT, so there is an Up

upward force. No change.

But the density and weight
PB
is less. Thus, the parcel
rises. Weight inside circle is less
 Bottom Line
• If parcel is warmer and thus less dense than
the environment at that level, it rises
• If the parcel is is the same temperature as
the environment, it stays in place
• If the parcel is colder than the environment,
it is denser that air of the environment and
sinks
 Lapse Rate
• Lapse rate (G): the rate of change of
temperature with height
G = - DT/Dz D means
change
So if temperature falls by 5C in 1000 meters ( 1 km) in
the vertical, the lapse rate is 5C per km.
 Average Lapse Rate in the
Atmosphere

• 6.5 C per km
• 3.6 F per 1000 ft
 Atmospheric Stability (cont.)
• Adiabatic Processes
– Parcel of air expands and cools, or compresses and warms, with
no interchange of heat with the surrounding environment
– An adiabatic process is reversible
• If the parcel doesn’t saturate, then cooling or
warming occurs at the dry adiabatic lapse rate
– Constant in our atmosphere 10 oC / km

35
 Dry adiabatic lapse rate

The dry adiabatic lapse rate, Gd , is

the rate of change of temperature
with height of an unsaturated air
parcel when it is forced up or down.
 Dry adiabatic lapse rate
• The value of Gd is 9.8 C per km
• When an unsaturated air parcel rises it cools
by 9.8C per km. Cooling due to adiabatic
expansion.
• When an unsaturated air parcel sinks it warms
by 9.8C per km. Warming by adiabatic
compression.
 Reminder!
• The term adiabatic is used to denote
situations where there are no sources of
heating or cooling. No release of latent heat,
no radiation, no nothing.
• By comparing Gd with the
environmental lapse rate Ge, one
can tell the vertical stability of
unsaturated air parcels.
Let us learn how this works
Consider the situation where air
remains unsaturated
Case 1: Environmental lapse rate
=dry adiabatic lapse rate
• Gd = Ge
• Neutral situation– parcel stays put when pushed
• Same temperature as environment
1 km .2C
.2C

Gd = 9.8 C per km

10C
0 km 10C
Parcel Environment
 Case 2: Environmental lapse rate
greater than dry adiabatic lapse rate
• Ge > Gd
• Unstable, parcel is warmer than environment, rises
1 km .2C
-5C

Ge =15C per km

10C
0 km 10C
Parcel Environment
 Case 2: Environmental lapse rate
greater than dry adiabatic lapse rate
• If parcel is warmer than the environment, it is
less dense, and thus would continue to rise
1 km .2C
-5C

Ge =15C per km

10C
0 km 10C
Parcel Environment
Case 3: Environmental lapse rate is
less than dry adiabatic lapse rate
• Ge < Gd
• Stable, parcel is cooler than environment
1 km .2C
5C
Ge =5C per km

10C
0 km 10C
Parcel Environment
 Case 3: Environmental lapse rate
<dry adiabatic lapse rate
If parcel is cooler than environment it is denser, and
will end to sink back to original position
1 km .2C
5C
Ge =5C per km

10C
0 km 10C
Parcel Environment
We can evaluate vertical stability
by plotting the environmental
sounding and the dry adiabatic
lapse rate on a thermodynamic
diagram
Atmospheric Stability

At various times, the atmosphere can be:

stable: push a parcel up or down and returns
to original starting location
unstable: push a parcel up or down and it
keeps on going.
neutral: push a parcel up or down and it keeps
on going.
 Summary (unsaturated)
• Ge > Gd unstable
• Ge = Gd neutral
• Ge < Gd stable
• How can we make the atmosphere unstable?
– Increase the environmental lapse rate: Ge
• How do we do this?
– Increase temperatures near the surface
– Cool aloft
Lets make a Thunderstorm
Increasing Lapse Rate (warming
surface or cooling aloft)
cool

Z Gd

Gd

warm

Temp
 Increasing Lapse Rate
Summer/warm time of the year, sun heats the
surface. Lapse rate increases. Unstable
atmosphere develops, with up and down
motions.
 Increasing Lapse Rate
In winter, cooler air moving in aloft above warm
water can increase lapse rate, resulting in
instability and post-frontal showers.
Can result in bumpy flights before
landing on warm days
Instability and Convection Can
Also Occur in the Kitchen
 Now let’s add a complication:
saturation
• Instability and convection can
be completely dry…air remains
unsaturated.
• But if air has enough water
vapor, rising air cools to
saturation, producing
clouds...usually cumulus
clouds
 Now let’s add a complication:
saturation
• But this leads to another
issue--when air
becomes saturated and
rises more, water
condenses out
producing latent
heating.
• Thus, saturated air cools
less when rising
 Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate
(a.k.a., moist adiabatic lapse rate)
The lapse rate becomes Gs= 6.5 C per km when
air rises when saturated

Gs= 6.5 C per km

Saturation

Gd= 9.8 C per km

 How do we calculate instability in a
saturated atmosphere? No Problem!
Just replace with saturated adiabatic
lapse rate

New Rules for saturated air:

• Ge > Gs unstable
• Ge = Gs neutral
• Ge < Gs stable
Easier to get instability when air is
saturated!
Since Gs is less than Gd,
it much easier to get
instability in a moist,
saturated atmosphere
—
 Instability and Great Stability
If a vertical sounding
shows an unstable
layer with a large
lapse rate, one might
expect cumulus
clouds and maybe
thunderstorms to
form.
 Instability and Great Stability
• But what happens
if the atmosphere
is very stable?
• Little vertical
mixing. Can result
in air pollution and
fog.
Instability can help mix pollutants
in the vertical, stable air keeps it
at low elevations
 Inversions
Inversion
layers, in which
temperature
increases with
height, are
VERY stable.
 How do inversions form? Two
major ways
Radiation inversions: cooling at the surface as
earth radiates infrared radiation to space.
 Subsidence Inversion
• Sinking air aloft,
often associated
with high pressure.
• Greater sinking
aloft produces
more adiabatic
warming aloft.
.
 Inversions
Both radiation and subsidence inversions can
happen at the same time.
Inversion on a Sounding Chart
 Meteorologists evaluate stability
by comparing environmental
soundings (mainly from
radiosondes), with the dry and
• s
saturated adiabatic lapse rate
shown on thermodynamic charts.
 Lets Review: Lapse Rates and
Stability
• Lapse rate is the rate at which the temperature decreases
with altitude – the environmental lapse rate.
• (Lapse rate is the negative of temperature gradient)
• This should be compared with the dry adiabatic lapse rate of
10 ºC.
• If the environmental lapse rate is less than 10 ºC, then the
atmosphere is absolutely stable
• If greater than 10 ºC, it is absolutely unstable
 Wet adiabatic lapse rate
• The presence of condensable vapors, such as water vapor,
complicates the process.
• As the parcel of air ascends it cools at the dry adiabatic
lapse rate until the water vapor reaches saturation – then
condensation takes place.
• This releases latent heat – which can raise the temperature
of the air parcel.
• Now the lapse rate depends on the amount of water vapor
wet adiabatic lapse rate.
 Role of atmospheric stability

Temperature inversions produce very stable atmospheric conditions in

which mixing is greatly reduced. There are two general types of
inversions: surface inversions and inversions aloft.

 Surface inversions are the result of differential radiative properties of

the Earth’s surface and the air above. The Earth is a much better
absorber and radiator of energy than air; thus, in the late morning and
afternoon hours the lower atmosphere is unstable. The opposite is
true in the evening; a stable atmosphere with little vertical mixing
prevails.
 The Nocturnal Inversion
• On clear nights, a temperature inversion develops near the
surface.
- Air temperature usually decreases with height.
An inversion is a layer of air where temperature
increases with height.
- Because the layer of air in the inversion is warmer than
the air below it, the cooler air below the inversion
cannot rise above it. Pollutants near the surface are
therefore trapped below the inversion in the overnight
hours.
 Role of Atmospheric Stability
Inversions aloft are associated with prolonged, severe pollution episodes. These
types of inversions are caused by the sinking air associated with the center of high
pressure systems (subsidence).
As the air sinks it is warmed adiabatically. Turbulence at the very lowest part of
the atmosphere prevents subsidence from warming that portion of the atmosphere.
Los Angles pollution episodes as well as those over the Mid-Atlantic region are
the result of inversions aloft associated with strong high pressure systems.
 Q / How does the Stability of the Atmosphere Change During the Day?
• Daytime:
– The sun heats the ground.
– The boundary layer is heated from below.
– The environmental lapse rate is steep.
– The atmosphere can become unstable.
• Morning and evening hours:
– Radiation cooling results in temperature inversion.
– The boundary layer is cooler than the air above.
– The environmental lapse rate becomes less steep.
– The atmosphere is stable.
Fig. 3.18
 Formation of Convective Clouds
• The surface air temperature is 35 C and the dew point is 25 C
STABLE

UNSTABLE