18.4.

2019

Chapter - 7

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An adiabatic temperature change occurs when a gas is compressed or expanded with no

external exchange of heat.

e.g. Bicycle tyre pump, carbon dioxide (CO2) fire extinguisher etc.

In each case the temperature has changed because of the expansion or compression of the
gas; no heat has been added from or removed to external sources.

In the atmosphere pressure decreases as altitude increases so if a parcel of air is forced to rise
it will expand as it rises and hence will cool by the adiabatic process. Similarly if a parcel of air
is forced to descend it will become compressed and hence heat up, again by the adiabatic
process.

The Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate - DALR
◦ The Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) is the lapse rate for rising dry (i.e.
unsaturated) air. It has a constant value of 1°
1°C/100 m (about 3°
3°C/1000
ft).

The Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate - SALR

Saturated air, when forced to rise will also cool, but as
it cools condensation will take place, releasing latent
heat which slows the rate at which the air cools. The
Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR) is the lapse rate
for rising air which is saturated (RH 100%) and has an
average value in temperate latitudes near the ground of
0.6° (1.8°C/1000 ft).
0.6°C/100 m (1.8°

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The amount of water vapour the air can hold is directly proportional to temperature. At high
temperatures the air can hold large amounts of water vapour so that when it cools a much
greater amount condenses releasing a lot of latent heat thus slowing the cooling process even
more. Conversely, at low temperature the air holds a relatively small amount of water vapour,
so little latent heat is released to slow the rate of cooling.

Hence the SALR increases as latitude and/or altitude increase, tending towards DALR at high
altitude and high latitude.

A comparison between SALRs at different latitudes is shown below.

The Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR)

The ELR is the actual temperature profile of the troposphere as measured by
radiosonde ascents. It varies with time and position.

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Stability can be defined as being resistance to change.

When dealing with atmospheric stability we are looking at
what happens to air in vertical motion. If a parcel of air is
forced to rise, for example over a mountain, when it gets
to the top of the mountain there are 3 things it can do
1. It may return to its original height,
2. it may continue rising or
3. it may remain at the height of the summit.
1. In the first case, in terms of the vertical position, the air is where it
started so before and after are the same so we have a stable
situation.
2. In the second case we have continual change and hence instability.
3. The third situation is a neutral or indifferent case, since the parcel of
air is remaining where it was moved.

Atmospheric stability is determined by comparing the ELR

with the DALR and the SALR.

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Let us imagine a hill, 300 m high. A radiosonde ascent

gives the ELR over the first few hundred metres as
1.2°C/100 m so the environmental temperature at a height
of 300 m is +16.4°C (see diagram).

The wind blows a parcel of

Now the wind blows a parcel of
unsaturated air up the hill and saturated air up the hill which
that air cools adiabatically at rate
cools at 0.6°C/100 m, cooling
of 1.0°C/100 m and at 300 m has
to a temperature of 18.2°C at
cooled to 17°C. This air is now 300 m. This air is also warmer
warmer than the environment and than the environment and will
hence less dense so will continue also continue to rise and is
to rise. This is an unstable
hence unstable.
situation.

In this scenario when the ELR is greater than the DALR, the air is unstable for
both dry and saturated air. We call this situation absolute instability.

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Let us now take the same situation except that the

radiosonde ascent shows a lapse rate of 0.4°C/100 m,
giving an environmental temperature at 300 m of 18.8°C.

Once again the parcel of dry

air is blown up the hill cooling
adiabatically to 17°C. This The saturated air as it
parcel of air is now cooler and is blown up the hill
therefore denser than the will cool to 18.2°C and
environment and will now it too will be colder
descend on the opposite side
of the hill to its starting
than the environment
position. Now we have a and will roll down the
stable situation. other side of the hill.

This time we have stable conditions for both dry and saturated
air which we term absolute stability.

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Now we will look at what happens when the radiosonde ascent shows an
average lapse rate of 0.8°C/100 m over the first few hundred metres
giving an environmental temperature of 17.6°C at a height of 300 m.

The parcel of dry air is blown The saturated air will cool
up the hill and cools as to 18.2°C as it is blown up
before to 17°C. This air is the hill. Now the saturated
now colder than the air is warmer than the
environment and will environment and will
descend on the other side of continue to rise, the
the hill, the stable condition. unstable condition.

The stability of the air is now dependent on whether the air is saturated or
unsaturated. This state is known as conditional instability, where the
atmosphere is stable for unsaturated (dry) air and unstable for saturated air.

Note: The term ‘conditional stability’ is not a meteorological term and, if seen in the answer
to an examination question, can be confidently deleted as an incorrect answer.

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If the ELR is the same as the DALR then the temperature at 300 m will be
17°C.

The unsaturated air blown up the hill A similar argument holds

will cool to 17°C as it rises. The for saturated air, however
uplifted air now has the same this is less likely since the
temperature and hence density as the value of the SALR is a
environment, so it will now remain at function of both
300 m. This situation is known as
neutral (or indifferent) stability for
temperature and pressure
unsaturated (dry) air. and is more complex.

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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ELR AND THE DALR AND SALR DETERMINES STABILITY

When ELR < SALR we have absolute stability.

Stable Weather:
◦ Clear skies
◦ Moderate to poor visibility
◦ Light turbulence (except at any inversion and in mountain waves – see chapter on turbulence)

OR
◦ Stratiform cloud
◦ Possibly fog, especially in winter
◦ Continuous or intermittent light precipitation

The clouds which form in stable air tend to be small in

vertical extent and large in horizontal extent - layer
clouds. Layer clouds may include stratocumulus as shown
in Figure which is identified by its well defined shape,
whereas stratus is ill defined in shape but can cover
equally large areas.

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When ELR > DALR we have absolute instability.

Unstable Weather:
◦ Cumuliform clouds
◦ Moderate to heavy showers
◦ Potential for moderate to heavy precipitation
◦ Good visibility except in showers

The clouds which form in unstable air

tend to be large in vertical extent and
small in horizontal extent - heap
clouds.

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