GEO 155 1st Edition Lecture 9 Last Lecture Moisture in the Atmosphere Outline of Current Lecture I II Atmospheric Stability a About Stability and Instability b Adiabatic and Environmental Lapse Rates c Examples d Conditions that Promote Stability or Instability Precipitation a Environmental Lapse Rates and Types of Precipitaion Current Lecture Atmospheric Stability and Instability Stable general conditions suppress changes Unstable general conditions amplify changes I Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate DALR moves air particle up 100m and cools it by 1 degree Celcius II Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate SALR if air is saturated it condenses releases latent heat does not cool as fast on average 0 6 degrees Celsius per every 100m III Environmental Lapse Rate ELR variable to know if the atmosphere is stable one needs to know the exact rate that the temperature is dropping as one moves higher up measured a Tells the amount of air that particle of air will be surrounded by i Lower ELR more likely to be stable ii Higher ELR less likely to be stable iii Surface heated more likely to be unstable iv Surface cooled more likely to be stable b Atmospheric inversion makes uplift virtually impossible c Convective uplift or any kind of uplift is more likely to occur when the surface is heated during unstable atmospheric conditions Precipitation Vapor to saturation to condensation clouds to precipitation These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute ELR I RAIN vapor becomes water when it falls at above 0 degrees Celsius vapor becomes ice when it leaves a cloud at temperature below 0 degrees Celsius but when it falls it melts and falls as liquid II SNOW vapor is less than 0 degrees Celsius and falls as ice ELR Inversion III SLEET vapor leaves below 0 degrees Celsius ice falls above 0 degrees Celsius rain and lands less than 0 degrees Celsius IV FREEZING RAIN vapor leaves he cloud below 0 degrees Celsius ice falls above 0 degrees Celsius rain and lands at 0 degrees Celsius Inversion and no ELR V HAIL cannot be predicted by looking at ELR unstable atmosphere and warm surface air rises quickly precipitation falls from the cloud lifted back up by air layer of ice builds on it falls lifted again until it is too heavy to melt when it falls a Often in the summer during surface heating
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