Convective available potential energy

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A skew-T plot showing a morning sounding with a large hydrolapse followed by an afternoon
sounding showing the cooling (red curve moving to the left) which occurred in the mid-levels
resulting in an unstable atmosphere as surface parcels have now become negatively buoyant.
The red line is temperature, the green line is the dew point, and the yellow line is the air parcel
lifted.

In meteorology, convective available potential energy (CAPE),[1] sometimes, simply, available

potential energy(APE), is the amount of energy a parcel of air would have if lifted a certain
distance vertically through the atmosphere. CAPE is effectively the positive buoyancy of an air
parcel and is an indicator of atmospheric instability, which makes it very valuable in
predicting severe weather. It is a form of fluid instability found in thermally stratified atmospheres
in which a colder fluid overlies a warmer one. As explained below, when an air mass is unstable,
the element of the air mass that is displaced upwards is accelerated by the pressure differential
between the displaced air and the ambient air at the (higher) altitude to which it was displaced.
This usually creates vertically developed clouds from convection, due to the rising motion, which
can eventually lead to thunderstorms. It could also be created by other phenomena, such as a
cold front. Even if the air is cooler on the surface, there is still warmer air in the mid-levels, that
can rise into the upper-levels. However, if there is not enough water vapor present, there is no
ability for condensation, thus storms, clouds, and rain will not form.

Contents
[hide]

1Mechanics

2Significance to thunderstorms

3Example from meteorology

4Further reading
 5See also

6References

7External links

Mechanics[edit]

A Skew-T diagram with important features labeled

CAPE exists within the conditionally unstable layer of the troposphere, the free convective
layer (FCL), where an ascending air parcel is warmer than the ambient air. CAPE is measured
in joules per kilogram of air (J/kg). Any value greater than 0 J/kg indicates instability and the
possibility of thunderstorms. Generic CAPE is calculated by integrating vertically the local
buoyancy of a parcel from the level of free convection (LFC) to the equilibrium level (EL):

Where is the height of the level of free convection and is the height of the equilibrium
level(neutral buoyancy), where is the virtual temperature of the specific parcel,
where is the virtual temperature of the environment, and where is the acceleration due
to gravity. CAPE for a given region is most often calculated from
a thermodynamic orsounding diagram (e.g., a Skew-T log-P diagram) using
air temperature and dew point data usually measured by a weather balloon.
CAPE is effectively positive buoyancy, expressed B+ or simply B; the opposite of convective
inhibition (CIN), which is expressed as B-, and can be thought of as "negative CAPE". As with
CIN, CAPE is usually expressed in J/kg but may also be expressed as m 2/s2, as the values are
equivalent. In fact, CAPE is sometimes referred to as positive buoyant energy(PBE). This type
of CAPE is the maximum energy available to an ascending parcel and to moist convection. When
a layer of CIN is present, the layer must be eroded by surface heating or mechanical lifting, so
that convective boundary layer parcels may reach their level of free convection (LFC).
On a sounding diagram, CAPE is the positive area above the LFC, the area between the
parcel's virtual temperature line and the environmental virtual temperature line where the
ascending parcel is warmer than the environment. Neglecting the virtual temperature correction
may result in substantial relative errors in the calculated value of CAPE for small CAPE values.
[2]
CAPE may also exist below the LFC, but if a layer of CIN (subsidence) is present, it is
unavailable to deep, moist convection until CIN is exhausted. When there is mechanical lift
to saturation, cloud base begins at the lifted condensation level (LCL); absent forcing, cloud
base begins at the convective condensation level (CCL) where heating from below causes
spontaneous buoyant lifting to the point of condensation when the convective temperature is
reached. When CIN is absent or is overcome, saturated parcels at the LCL or CCL, which had
been small cumulus clouds, will rise to the LFC, and then spontaneously rise until hitting the
stable layer of the equilibrium level. The result is deep, moist convection (DMC), or simply, a
thunderstorm.
When a parcel is unstable, it will continue to move vertically, in either direction, dependent on
whether it receives upward or downward forcing, until it reaches a stable layer (though
momentum, gravity, and other forcing may cause the parcel to continue). There are multiple
types of CAPE, downdraft CAPE (DCAPE), estimates the potential strength of rain and
evaporatively cooled downdrafts. Other types of CAPE may depend on the depth being
considered. Other examples are surface based CAPE (SBCAPE), mixed layer or mean layer
CAPE (MLCAPE), most unstable or maximum usable CAPE (MUCAPE), and normalized
CAPE (NCAPE).[3]
Fluid elements displaced upwards or downwards in such an atmosphere expand or
compress adiabatically in order to remain in pressure equilibrium with their surroundings, and in
this manner become less or more dense.
If the adiabatic decrease or increase in density is less than the decrease or increase in the
density of the ambient (not moved) medium, then the displaced fluid element will be subject to
downwards or upwards pressure, which will function to restore it to its original position. Hence,
there will be a counteracting force to the initial displacement. Such a condition is referred to
as convective stability.
On the other hand, if adiabatic decrease or increase in density is greater than in the ambient
fluid, the upwards or downwards displacement will be met with an additional force in the same
direction exerted by the ambient fluid. In these circumstances, small deviations from the initial
state will become amplified. This condition is referred to as convective instability.[4]
Convective instability is also termed static instability, because the instability does not depend on
the existing motion of the air; this contrasts with dynamic instability where instability is dependent
on the motion of air and its associated effects such as dynamic lifting.

Significance to thunderstorms[edit]
Thunderstorms form when air parcels are lifted vertically. Deep, moist convection requires a
parcel to be lifted to the LFC where it then rises spontaneously until reaching a layer of non-
positive buoyancy. The atmosphere is warm at the surface and lower levels of
the troposphere where there is mixing (the planetary boundary layer (PBL)), but becomes
substantially cooler with height. The temperature profile of the atmosphere, the change in
temperature, the degree that it cools with height, is the lapse rate. When the rising air parcel
cools more slowly than the surrounding atmosphere, it remains warmer and less dense. The
parcel continues to rise freely (convectively; without mechanical lift) through the atmosphere until
it reaches an area of air less dense (warmer) than itself.
The amount of and shape of the positive area modulates the speed of updrafts, extreme CAPE
can result in explosive thunderstorm development; such rapid development usually occurs when
CAPE stored by a capping inversion is released when the "lid" is broken by heating or
mechanical lift. The amount of CAPE also modulates how low-levelvorticity is entrained and then
stretched in the updraft, with importance to tornadogenesis. The most important CAPE
for tornadoes is within the lowest 1 to 3 km (0.6 to 1.9 mi), whilst deep layer CAPE and the width
of CAPE at mid-levels is important for supercells. Tornado outbreaks tend to occur within high
CAPE environments. Large CAPE is required for the production of very large hail, owing to
updraft strength, although a rotating updraft may be stronger with less CAPE. Large CAPE also
promotes lightning activity.[5]
Two notable days for severe weather exhibited CAPE values over 5 kJ/kg. Two hours before
the 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak occurred on May 3, 1999, the CAPE value sounding
at Oklahoma City was at 5.89 kJ/kg. A few hours later, an F5 tornado ripped through the southern
suburbs of the city. Also on May 4, 2007 CAPE values of 5.5 kJ/kg were reached and
an EF5 tornado tore through Greensburg, Kansas. On these days, it was apparent that
conditions were ripe for tornadoes and CAPE wasn't a crucial factor. However, extreme CAPE,
by modulating the updraft (and downdraft), can allow for exceptional events, such as the deadly
F5 tornadoes that hit Plainfield, Illinois on August 28, 1990 and Jarrell, Texas on May 27, 1997 on
days which weren't readily apparent as conducive to large tornadoes. CAPE was estimated to
exceed 8 kJ/kg in the environment of the Plainfield storm and was around 7 kJ/kg for the Jarrell
storm.
Severe weather and tornadoes can develop in an area of low CAPE values. The surprise severe
weather event that occurred in Illinois and Indiana on April 20, 2004 is a good example.
Importantly in that case, was that although overall CAPE was weak, there was strong CAPE in
the lowest levels of the troposphere which enabled an outbreak of minisupercells producing
large, long-track, intense tornadoes.[6]

Example from meteorology[edit]

A good example of convective instability can be found in our own atmosphere. If dry mid-level air
is drawn over very warm, moist air in the lower troposphere, a hydrolapse (an area of rapidly
decreasing dew point temperatures with height) results in the region where the moist boundary
layer and mid-level air meet. As daytime heating increases mixing within the moist boundary
layer, some of the moist air will begin to interact with the dry mid-level air above it. Owing to
thermodynamic processes, as the dry mid-level air is slowly saturated its temperature begins to
drop, increasing the adiabatic lapse rate. Under certain conditions, the lapse rate can increase
significantly in a short amount of time, resulting in convection. High convective instability can lead
to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes as moist air which is trapped in the boundary layer
eventually becomes highly negatively buoyant relative to the adiabatic lapse rate and eventually
escapes as a rapidly rising bubble of humid air triggering the development of
a cumulus or cumulonimbuscloud.

Convective inhibition
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"NBE" redirects here. For other uses, see NBE (disambiguation).
A Skew-T diagram with important features labeled

Convective inhibition (CIN or CINH)[1] is a numerical measure in meteorology that

indicates the amount of energy that will prevent an air parcel from rising from the surface
to the level of free convection.

CIN is the amount of energy required to overcome the negatively buoyant energy the
environment exerts on an air parcel. In most cases, when CIN exists, it covers a layer
from the ground to the level of free convection (LFC). The negatively buoyant energy
exerted on an air parcel is a result of the air parcel being cooler (denser) than the air
which surrounds it, which causes the air parcel to accelerate downward. The layer of air
dominated by CIN is warmer and more stable than the layers above or below it.

The situation in which convective inhibition is measured is when layers of warmer air are
above a particular region of air. The effect of having warm air above a cooler air parcel is
to prevent the cooler air parcel from rising into the atmosphere. This creates a stable
region of air. Convective inhibition indicates the amount of energy that will be required to
force the cooler packet of air to rise. This energy comes from fronts, heating, moistening,
or mesoscale convergence boundaries such as outflow and sea breeze boundaries,
or orographic lift.

Typically, an area with a high convection inhibition number is considered stable and has
very little likelihood of developing athunderstorm. Conceptually, it is the opposite
of CAPE.
CIN hinders updrafts necessary to produce convective weather, such as thunderstorms.
Although, when large amounts of CIN are reduced by heating and moistening during a
convective storm, the storm will be more severe than in the case when no CIN was
present.[citation needed]

CIN is strengthened by low altitude dry air advection and surface air cooling. Surface
cooling causes a small capping inversion to form aloft allowing the air to become stable.
Incoming weather fronts and short waves influence the strengthening or weakening of
CIN.

CIN is calculated by measurements recorded electronically by a Rawinsonde (weather

balloon) which carries devices which measure weather parameters, such as
airtemperature and pressure. A single value for CIN is calculated from one balloon
ascent by use of the equation below. The z-bottom and z-top limits of integration in the
equation represent the bottom and top altitudes (in meters) of a single CIN
layer, is the virtual temperature of the specific parcel and is the virtual
temperature of the environment. In many cases, the z-bottom value is the ground and
the z-top value is the LFC. CIN is an energy per unit mass and the units of measurement
are joules per kilogram (J/kg). CIN is expressed as a negative energy value. CIN values
greater than 200 J/kg are sufficient enough to prevent convection in the atmosphere.

The CIN energy value is an important figure on a skew-T log-P diagram and is a helpful
value in evaluating the severity of a convective event. On a skew-T log-P diagram, CIN
is any area between the warmer environment virtual temperature profile and the cooler
parcel virtual temperature profile.

CIN is effectively negative buoyancy, expressed B-; the opposite of convective available
potential energy (CAPE), which is expressed as B+ or simply B. As with CAPE, CIN is
usually expressed in J/kg but may also be expressed as m 2/s2, as the values are
equivalent. In fact, CIN is sometimes referred to as negative buoyant energy (NBE).