ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE

AND STABILITY

http://ocw.usu.edu/Forest__Range__and_Wildlife_Sciences/
Wildland_Fire_Management_and_Planning/stabilityInstability.jpg

Ms. L Shezelle Longley Mather

 Water Vapour
• Water vapour is normally less than a few
% of all the atmospheric molecules

• Very important

• Precipitation

• Circulation of water in the atmosphere

• Different ways to express humidity

• Various ways to measure humidity

 CIRCULATION OF WATER VAPOUR IN
THE ATMOSPHERE
• Humidity: is the amount of water vapor
in the atmosphere.
• The main sources of water vapor in the
lower atmosphere are :
i. evaporation from the Earth's surface
ii. transpiration by plants

• Humidity is NOT constant through time

or space
• Constant cycle of water is through the
Hydrologic Cycle
 Humidity Cont’d
• Humidity tells you the moisture content of the
atmosphere, or how much water vapor there is in
the air
• When the humidity is high it feels oppressive
outside because sweat doesn't evaporate and
provide cooling
• When the humidity is low you feel cooler, but your
skin dries out and you get dehydrated more easily
because more moisture is being evaporated from
your body
• The same thing applies to crops in high and low
humidity
• A high water vapor content is necessary to
produce clouds and precipitation.
• Relative humidity and dew point are the two main
ways to describe humidity.
 Mixing Ratio
 Mixing ratio = mass of water
vapor/mass of dry air
Example:
• w = mass of H2O / mass of dry
in a given parcel, the mass
air (g kg -1)
of water vapor is 1 gm
 Remains constant as long as
the mass of dry air in the
H2O is not added to or removed
parcel (N2, O2, AR, other
from air parcel
trace gasses) is 1.0 kg
 This happens because the total
number of molecules (mass of
parcel) remains constant even
as the parcel expands
(contract)
 Relative Humidity
 RH: is the ratio of the amount
of water vapour actually in
the air compared to the total
amount required for
saturation at a particular
temperature and pressure
 RH = water vapor content /
water vapor capacity
 RH = vapor
pressure/saturation vapor
pressure http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/cld/dvlp/rh.rxml

• RH = (e/es) x 100%
Where
RH = Relative humidity
e = vapour pressure
es = saturation vapour pressure
 Relative Humidity cont’d
 RH = mixing ratio/saturation
mixing ratio
• RH = (w/ws) x 100%

Where
RH = relative humidity
W = mixing ratio
Ws = saturation mixing ratio

 Actual mixing ratio (w) is the

mixing ratio of the air
 Saturation mixing ratio (ws) is
mixing ratio of saturated air
at that the particular
temperature
 Saturation of Air
• Water vapor content stays the
 There are two (2) ways for air same and the temperature
to become saturated: rises, RH↓
• Evaporate more water into it
• Colder air doesn’t require as
• Decrease the temperature much moisture to become
saturated as warmer air.
 Which is turn will influence RH
• In the summer, you’ll notice
• Relative humidity is that the relative humidity is
dependent on air temperature actually higher in the morning
• Water vapor content stays the than in the afternoon
same and the temperature
drops, RH ↑  cooler morning air is closer to
saturation than the hot
afternoon air, even with the
same amount of water vapor.
Relative Humidity and Temperature Daily Fluctuations
 When the weather conditions are clear with calm or
with constant wind speed;
• When the air is cool (morning) the RH is HIGH
• When the air is warm (afternoon), the RH is LOW
 DEW POINT TEMPERATURE
 The temperature to which air  Dew Point (Td)is actually a
must be cooled (at constant good indicator of the air’s
pressure & moisture) for actual water vapour content
saturation to occur
• High Td > high water vapour
content
• Low Td > low water vapour
content
• Adding water vapour
increases Td
• Removing water vapour
http://scied.ucar.edu/webweather/weather-ingredients/humidity-dew-point lowers Td
 Wet Bulb Temperature
 The lowest temperature that
may be reached by
evaporating water into it at a
constant pressure

• Tw ≤ air temperature (T)

 Example if you are a runner;

• T = 32°C, RH=90% > high Tw
• T = 32°C, RH=10% > low Tw

 Feels more comfortable when

Tw is low
http://image.slidesharecdn.com/ch-151006124723-lva1-app6891/95/ch-24-weather-by-ajay-
sharma-ib-dp-geoess-12-638.jpg?cb=1444135840

 Tw is related to the heat index

STABILITY AND CLOUD DEVELOPMENT
 How and why do clouds form on some days and
not on others?

 Why does the atmosphere sometimes produce

stratus clouds (thin layered) while other times we
get cumulus, or cumulonimbus clouds to form?

 The answer is largely related to the concept of

atmospheric stability.....

• Stability is a measure of the likelihood that air will

rise and form clouds.

• It hinges on the basic premise that hot air rises

and cool air sinks.
 Cloud Development (Stable
Environment)
 Consider this simple
situation of a marble in the
bottom of a bowl
• if you push the marble up
the side of the bowl, it will
fall back down to the
bottom, to it's original
position
• Stable air (parcel) -
vertical motion is
inhibited
• if clouds form, they will be
shallow, layered clouds like
stratus
 Cloud Development
(Unstable Environment)
 On the other hand, if the marble
is release, it does not come
back (unstable)

• This is an unstable situation

• Unstable air (parcel) - vertical

motion
• Commonly produces cumulus,
cumulonimbus clouds

 How does one determine

stability of the atmosphere??
 Stable and Unstable Air
• Weather is strongly affected by how stable or
unstable the atmosphere is.
• Stable air means that the weather is likely to be calm.
It may rain or snow slowly and steadily, it may be
sunny, but the weather will not change quickly.
• Unstable air means that the weather might change
quickly with very little warning.
• Unstable air leads to sudden thunderstorms.
 What makes the atmosphere stable or unstable?
• Picture an invisible box of air called an air parcel.
• If we compare the temperature of this air parcel to
the temperature of air surrounding it, we can tell if it
is stable (likely to remain in place) or unstable (likely
to move).
Rising and Sinking Air Parcels and Stability
• Warm air rises

• Cool air sinks

• A rising parcel >> Air expands and cools

• A sinking parcel >> Air compresses and

warms

 Stability is determined by comparing the

air parcel temperature (Tp) with the
environment temperature (Te) at a given
altitude
 DRY ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE
 As a parcel of air rises, it cools,
but at what rate???

• Rate of temperature change

with height is called the lapse
rate

• Units of lapse rate are °C km-1

• Let's first consider an
unsaturated parcel of air ie RH
≤ 100%
• Unsaturated parcels cool at a
rate of 10°C km-1
* this is called the dry-adiabatic
lapse rate
• Note the parcel temperature is
decreasing by 10°C/km
• This happens until saturation is
achieved (ie T = Td)
 Once saturation is achieved the
parcel cools at the Moist
Adiabatic Lapse Rate
 MOIST ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE
 For a saturated parcel of
air, i.e., when T=Td, then it
cools at the moist
adiabatic lapse rate = 6°C
km-1

 The moist adiabatic lapse rate is less

than the dry adiabatic lapse rate
because as vapor condenses into
water (or water freezes into ice) for a
saturated parcel, latent heat is
released into the parcel, mitigating
the adiabatic cooling
 Assessing Atmospheric Stability
 The bottom line;
• To determine whether or not a parcel will
rise or sink in the atmosphere, one must
compare the parcels temperature (Tp) with
that of the environment (Te) at some
altitude:
– if Tp > Te what will the parcel do? (rise)
– if Tp = Te what will the parcel do? (not move)
– if Tp < Te what will the parcel do? (fall back)
• So, to assess stability, what two pieces of
information do we need?
 STABILITY IN A NUTSHELL

https://climate.ncsu.edu/images/edu/atm_stab.jpg