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CIV300/ENV346 – Terrestrial
Energy Systems
Atmospheric Instability
Ian Sinclair, P.Eng.
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 Recall the Basics
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l Reading: chapter 4 P.93-112 (2nd Ed ch.6 p.123-133)

l Recall buoyancy induced motion

l Air that is more dense will always fall to below air that is less dense.
Less dense air above more dense air is stable

l HOWEVER less dense air below more dense air is going to want to
RISE and is therefore unstable

l What happens when it does? It expands and cools – adiabatic

cooling. Where does it stop rising and how quickly does it cool?
That’s what we’ll figure out.
 Adiabatic Cooling / Compression Warming
The change in temperature related to altitude called the
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lapse rate
 What Causes Instability?
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l Life gets in the way of a dead atmosphere

l Sun heats air and warms it

l Winds (caused by pressure differences) cause air masses to move

around vertically and horizontally

l Fires, volcanoes, dry lakes, geography, mountains

l Does the rising stop? Yes, eventually.

 What Happens when Warm Air Rises?

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l Typical warm air pocket on surface (e.g. above a dry lake bed)
detaches itself from the surface as the surroundings are colder

l As it rises, does energy get added or taken away to/from the rising
air mass?

l This is an adiabatic (no heat added or taken away) process

l As the air rises, it will EXPAND as the pressure higher up is lower –

the parcel of air does work on the surrounding air

l The average energy remains the same, and so it COOLS DOWN

l Now there’s moisture in the air, so…. as it cools down…..it will hit
the dew point. Remember the psychrometric chart – you are
traveling horizontally and RH increases as temperature drops.

l WE GET CLOUDS
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 The Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
l We know that temperature is inversely proportional to height. The 8
higher we go, the colder it gets.

l This is quantified as the dry adiabatic lapse rate

DALR = -dT/dz.

l The DALR is approx. 10oC per 1,000m (specifically 9.8oC per

1,000m). Convenient. Why?

l Pressure is related to acceleration due to gravity, g via P=gρh

l The higher we are, the lower the pressure.

l Then using known equations, PV = nRT, P=gρh, PVϒ =k, ϒ = cp/cv

l The resulting expression is that the DALR -dT/dz = g/cp = 9.8oC (as
cp is very close to 1,000 Jkg-1K-1)

l Witness the derivation at your leisure.

l http://hs.umt.edu/physics/documents/BOREALIS/Lapse%20Rate%20Terms%20and%20Formulas2012.pdf
 The Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate
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l The DALR only applies when the relative humidity is <100%.

l Once the moisture condenses, a new lapse rate is needed and it

varies

l The saturated adiabatic lapse rate depends on total moisture

content of the air

l Recall: as moisture condenses, latent heat is released. This warms

the air, partially negating the impact of the expanding (and cooling)
air mass.

l Saturated adiabatic lapse rate is often taken to be 6°C per 1,000m,

but ranges from approx. 4°C up to 9.8°C, depending on the moisture
content (see the psychrometric chart)
 Environmental Lapse Rate
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l The actual temperature change measured through a vertical column of air is
the Environmental Lapse Rate. This is typically used to describe the
temperature of the air that is surrounding the air pocket – think of it as NOT
moving up or down.

l The rising air pocket subject to the DALR/SALR then passes through this
stationary air as it rises.

l The ELR is NOT necessarily the same as the adiabatic lapse rate (dry or
saturated). It can change over time.

l Why? Global movement of air can introduce new, colder air at altitude,
increasing the temperature drop from ground level. Intense heating at
ground level due to the sun does the same. Both change the ELR.

l The result is that the current conditions in the air column above you are
constantly changing.
 Stability
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l The stability or instability of a rising air mass – dry or saturated –
relative to its surroundings therefore depends on its relationship to
the environmental lapse rate and resulting temperatures at a given
altitude.

l We mean…..will the detached air mass actually rise or not?

 Determining Atmospheric Stability
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Altitude (m)) Adiabatic Lapse Environmental Environmental
Rate (10°C/1,000m) Lapse Rate Lapse Rate
(5°C/1,000m) (20°C/1,000m)

0 20 20 20
100
200
300
400
 Determining Atmospheric Stability
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Altitude (m)) Adiabatic Lapse Environmental Environmental
Rate (10°C/1,000m) Lapse Rate Lapse Rate
(5°C/1,000m) (20°C/1,000m)

0 20 20 20
100 19 19.5 18
200 18 19 16
300 17 18.5 14
400 16 18 12
 Environmental Lapse Rate
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l What happens to a pocket of air that’s rising adiabatically (e.g. due
to solar gain from below)?

l DEPENDS on the relationship btn the Environmental and the

Adiabatic lapse rates and the starting temperature difference
 Determining Atmospheric Stability
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Altitude (m)) Adiabatic Lapse Environmental Environmental
Rate (10°C/1,000m) Lapse Rate Lapse Rate
(5°C/1,000m) (20°C/1,000m)

0 30 25 25
200
400
600
800
1,000
1,200
 Determining Atmospheric Stability
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Altitude (m)) Adiabatic Lapse Environmental Environmental
Rate (10°C/1,000m) Lapse Rate Lapse Rate
(5°C/1,000m) (20°C/1,000m)

0 30 25 25
200 28 24 21
400 26 23 17
600 24 22 13
800 22 21 9
1,000 20 20 5
1,200 18 19 1

l Environmental lapse rate < Adiabatic lapse rate, ΔT between the rising air
and surroundings decreases with height, so rising air pocket’s eventually
meets local temperature and climbing stops

l Atmosphere is therefore STABLE as a driver prohibits ability of air to rise

beyond a certain point.
 Can We See This?
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l Atmospheric moisture and the dew point provide an excellent visual guide!

l Stratiform cloud – stability reached

 Environmental Lapse Rate - Unstable

l If the environmental lapse rate > Adiabatic lapse rate, ΔT increases 18

with height, so rising air pocket’s temperature diverges from
environment temperature, resulting in accelerating temperature
difference and ever faster rising air

l This atmosphere is therefore UNSTABLE as a driver encourages the

rising air to continue to rise

l https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD58cU5vRk8

l http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kapTREk0gXg

l Note that in both cases stability is eventually reached (else it would

leave the atmosphere)
An Unstable Atmosphere in Two Rates

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 Conditional Stability
l The environmental lapse rate may be greater than and also less 20
than the rising air pocket’s lapse rate….if the rising air mass moves
from being unsaturated to saturated

l This happens as the air mass hits the dew point as it rises - in the
right conditions
Conditional Stability
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 What Forces the Lift?
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l Heated Surface
 What Forces the Lift?
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l Topography
 What Forces the Lift?
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Weather fronts
 What forces the lift?
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Colliding air
 Temperature Inversions
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l Ever heard of smog due to a temperature inversion? Means warmer air over colder
air, which isn’t supposed to happen with adiabatic cooling

l Polluted air rises up, then cools, but is trapped by warmer air above it.

l Smog layer forms and stays until the inversion disappears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeyZPnhtwMU&frags=pl%2Cwn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Ww0ONdhg4
Inversions Local and Global
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 Primary Cloud Structure Driver
l Heated Surface example 28

l Condensing air mass

l Why doesn’t the cloud fall?

 Normal Cloud Formation
1. As it does, air rises above the dew point again so moisture re- 29
absorbs

2. MOSTLY that weight of droplet due to gravity does not overcome

the uplift due to rising air around it