Radiosondes

Hydrostatic Stability
Displace parcel upward (could go
downward)
Will displacement be
Suppressed = Stable
Layered clouds, steady
precipitation
Enhanced = Unstable
Towering clouds, showers or
 Absolute Stability
Environmental Lapse Rate less than Wet Adiabatic
Rate
 Absolute Instability
Environmental Lapse Rate greater than Dry
Adiabatic Rate
 Conditional Instability
Environmental Lapse Rate between the Dry
and Wet Adiabatic Rates
What Causes Wind to Blow
??

It is acted on by forces
—most of which we
can’t see
 Surface Map
Isobars = Lines of constant
pressure
Straight Isobars
Flow Around Circular Low
Flow Around Circular High
 Upper Level Charts
Pressure is Vertical Coordinate
500 mb Chart
 Planetary Boundary Layer
• (PBL)
Lowest layer of atmos—directly influenced
by the surface
• PBL vs. Free Atmosphere
• What happens in PBL?
• Air is heated/cooled from below—radiation
• Inversions (stable) at night—suppress
mixing
• Big lapse rate during day—less stable-lots
of mixing
• Mechanical Turbulence—roughness (day or
night)
• Wind Speed goes to zero at surface (no
slip)
• Speed increases with height according
to Ekman Theory—direction also
changes
• The more mixing
• the more θ is constant with
height
• the more mixing ratio constant
with height
• Height of PBL deep during day, shallow
at night
• Depth determined by
Transporting Air From
Surface to Higher
Levels

Winds are stronger there

Wind direction often changes
with height
Jet Streams
Middle Latitude Wave
Cyclones