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Moisture and Atmospheric Stability

Chapter 4
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4.1 Movement of Water Through the

Atmosphere
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Movement of Water Through The
Atmosphere
◼ 97% of all water is salt water
◼ Remaining 3% is stored in ice sheets in
Antarctica and Greenland
◼ Only 0.0001% is found in the Atmosphere in
the form of water vapor
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Movement of Water Through The
Atmosphere
◼ Hydrologic
Cycle:
◼ Thecontinuous
exchange of
water among
oceans,
atmosphere and
continents
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4.2 Water: A Unique Substance

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Water: A Unique Substance

◼ Water:
1. Water is the only liquid on the surface of the
Earth in large quantities.
2. It exists in all forms on Earth.
3. Ice (solid state) is less dense than liquid.
4. Water has a high heat capacity.
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Water: A Unique Substance

◼ It
has a unique ability to form hydrogen bonds
(H2O)
◼ When ice forms on a body of water it insulates
the underlying layer of water and slows the
rate of freezing
◼ This is how fish can survive in a lake during the
winter :)
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4.3 Water’s Changes of State

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Water’s Changes of State
◼ Ice, liquid water, and water vapor:
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Water Changes States

◼ Ice
◼ Tight orderly network of molecules vibrating in
a fixed state
◼ Water
◼ Molecules can slide past one another
◼ Gas
◼ Very random erratic motion
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Latent Heat

◼ Whenever water changes state heat is lost to its

surroundings.
◼ Latent heat is hidden heat
◼ Adding heat to melt ice does not result in a
temperature change.
◼ Melting 1 gram of ice requires 80 calories.
◼ Latent heat of melting
◼ Freezing 1 gram of water releases 80 calories.
◼ Latent heat of fusion
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Latent Heat

◼ Evaporation
◼ The process of converting a liquid to a gas.
◼ The latent heat of vaporization is the energy
absorbed by water during evaporation.
◼ ~ 600 calories/gram for water
◼ Evaporation is a cooling process.
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Latent Heat

◼ Condensation
◼ Is the reverse process, converting a gas to a
liquid.
◼ The process when water vapor changes to the
liquid state is the latent heat of condensation.
◼ Energy is released, which warms the
surrounding air.
◼ Forms clouds and fog
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Latent Heat

◼ Sublimation:
◼ Sublimationis the process that turns a solid to a gas.
◼ Disappearing ice cubes in freezer are a result of
sublimation.
◼ Deposition:
◼ Deposition is the reverse process of changing a vapor
to a solid.
◼ Frost accumulating in a freezer is a result of
deposition.
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4.4 Humidity: Water Vapor in the Air

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Humidity: Water Vapor in the Air

◼ Humidity is amount of water vapor in the air.

1. Absolute humidity is the mass of water vapor
in a given volume of air.
2. The mixing ratio is the mass of water vapor in
a unit of air compared to the remaining mass
of dry air.
◼ Meteorologists like to use this one because it
is not affected by changes in pressure or
temperature
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Humidity: Water Vapor in the Air

3. Vapor pressure is defined as the part of the

total atmospheric pressure attributable to its
water-vapor content.
4. Relative humidity indicates how close air is to
saturation rather than the actual quantity of
water vapor in the air.
5. Dew point is the temperature to which air
needs to be cooled to reach saturation.
◼ **We will talk more about these 3
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4.5 Vapor Pressure and Saturation

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Vapor Pressure and Saturation

◼ Vapor pressure is that

part of the total air
pressure attributable to
water vapor content.
◼ Morewater vapor equals
more vapor pressure
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Vapor Pressure and Saturation

◼ Saturation:
◼ Saturationis the equilibrium point between
evaporation and condensation.
◼ Temperature dependent
◼ For every 10°C (18 °C) increases in temperature,
the amount of water for vapor needed for saturation
doubles
◼ Humid air equals a high vapor pressure.
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4.6 Relative Humidity

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Relative Humidity

◼ Relative humidity:
◼ Relative humidity is the ratio of the air’s actual
water vapor content and amount of water vapor
required for saturation at a certain temperature
and pressure.
◼ Relative humidity indicates how near the air is
to saturation rather than the actual quantity of
water vapor in the air.
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Relative Humidity

◼ At25°C, air is
saturated at 20 g/kg
◼ So
if we had 10g/kg at
25°C then the relative
humidity is 10/20 or
50%
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Relative Humidity

◼ How relative humidity changes:

◼ 100% relative humidity equals saturation.
◼ If water vapor is added, relative humidity goes
up.
◼ If water vapor is removed, relative humidity
goes down.
◼ A decrease in temperature equals an increase in
relative humidity.
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Relative Humidity

◼ A decreasein temperature equals an increase in

relative humidity.
◼ When air aloft is cooled below its saturation
level, some of the water vapor condenses to
form clouds. Clouds are made of liquid droplets,
so the moisture is no longer apart of the water-
vapor content of the air.
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Relative Humidity
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Relative Humidity

◼ Natural changes:
◼ Daily temperature changes affect relative humidity.
◼ Temperature changes are caused by advection, the
primarily horizontal component of convective flow
(wind).
◼ Temperature changes are also caused through
convection, where some of the air in the lowest layer
of the atmosphere, heated by radiation and
conduction, is transported by convection to higher
layers of the atmosphere.
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4.7 Dew-Point Temperature

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Dew-Point Temperature

◼ Dew point:
◼ The dew point is the temperature air is cooled to
reach saturation.
◼ Dew-point temperature is a measure of actual
moisture content.
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Dew-Point Temperature

◼ Innature, cooling below the dew point cause

water vapor to condense, typically as dew, fog
or clouds
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4.8 How is Humidity Measured?

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How is Humidity Measured?

◼ Hygrometer:
◼ A hygrometer measures moisture the content of
air.
◼ A hair hygrometer operates on the principle
that hair changes length in proportion to
changes in relative humidity.
◼ These are harder to use and need to be
calibrated often
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How is Humidity Measured?

◼ A psychrometer consists of two identical

thermometers; one (dry thermometer)
measures air temperature, the other called the
“wet bulb,” measures the dryness of air.
◼ Thelarger the difference in temperatures
between the wet and dry, the lower the relative
humidity (with a table).
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4.9 Adiabatic Temperature Changes

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Adiabatic Temperature Changes

◼ Remember condensation occurs when

sufficient water vapor is added to the air or
more commonly when the air is cooled to its
dew point temperature.
◼ An adiabatic process is one in which no heat
is transferred.
◼ When air is compressed, it warms.
◼ When air expands, it cools.
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Adiabatic Temperature Changes

◼ Adiabatic cooling:
◼ Cooling occurs when air moves up and it
expands and cools.
◼ Unsaturated air cools at a rate of 10°
C/1000m; this is called the dry adiabatic rate.
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Adiabatic Temperature Changes

◼ Adiabatic condensation:
◼ Condensation is triggered when air rises high
enough to reach its saturation point and clouds form,
called its lifting condensation level.
◼ When air ascends above the lifting condensation
level, the rate at which it cools is reduced. The
slower rate of cooling is called the wet adiabatic
rate (because the air is saturated), which varies from
5° C/1000m.
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Adiabatic Temperature Changes
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Adiabatic Temperature Changes
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4.10 Processes That Lift Air

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Processes That Lift Air

◼4 mechanisms that cause to air to rise

1. Orographic lifting in which air is forced to rise
over a mountainous barrier
2. Frontal wedging in which warmer less dense air is
forced over cooler dense air
3. Convergence is a pileup of horizontal air flow that
results in upward motion
4. Localized convective lifting is unequal surface
heating causes localized pockets of air to rise
because of their buoyancy.
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Processes That Lift Air

◼ Orographic lifting occurs when elevated

terrains, such as mountains, act as barriers to
the flow of air.
◼ Adiabatic cooling can generate clouds and
copious precipitation. Many of the wettest
places in the world are located on windward
mountain slopes.
◼ When air reaches the leeward side, much of its
moisture has been lost.
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Processes That Lift Air

◼ Rain shadow desert- happens on leeward mountain

side, adiabatic warming making ran less likely
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Processes That Lift Air
◼ Frontal wedging:
◼ Masses of warm and cold air collide, producing
fronts. Cooler, denser air acts as a barrier over
which the warmer, less dense air rises. This
process is called frontal wedging.
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Processes That
Lift Air
◼ Convergence:
◼ Converging
horizontal air flow
results in upward
movement.
◼ Can also happen
when an obstacle
slows or restricts
horizontal air flow
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Processes That Lift Air

◼ Localized convective lifting:

◼ Unequal surface heating causes localized pockets of
air to rise.
◼ Can rise high enough, condense and form clouds
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4.11 The Critical Weather maker:

Atmospheric Stability
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability

◼ Stable air resists vertical movement.

◼ Unstable air rises due to buoyancy till it reaches
a temperature that is equal to its surroundings.
◼ Environmental lapse rate is the actual
temperature of the atmosphere.
◼ Airtemperature is measured at various heights in
the atmosphere.
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability
◼ Absolute Stability
◼ The environmental lapse rate is less than the
adiabatic rate
◼ The rising air continues to cool

◼ Temperature inversion
◼ Type of environmental lapse rate when the temp
in a layer of air increases with altitude rather
than decreasing
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability
◼ Absolute Instability
◼ The environmental lapse rate is greater than the
adiabatic rate
◼ The ascending parcel of air is always warmer
than its environment and will continue to rise
because of its buoyancy
◼ Occurs most often during the warmest months
on clear days when solar heating is intense
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability

◼ Conditional instability is the most common

type of atmospheric instability.
◼ This situation prevails when moist air has an
environmental lapse rate between the dry and
wet adiabatic rates.
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The Critical Weathermaker:
Atmospheric Stability
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In Summary: Atmospheric Stability

◼ The stability of air is determined by

measuring temperature of the atmosphere at
various temperatures (environmental lapse
rate)
◼ A column of air is unstable when the air near
the bottom of this layer is significantly
warmer than the air aloft
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In Summary: Atmospheric Stability

◼ Air is considered stable when the temperature

decreases gradually with an increase in
altitude
◼ Most stable condition occurs during a
temperature inversion when the temperature
actually increases with height.
◼ Underthese conditions there is little vertical air
movement
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4.12 Stability and Daily Weather

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Stability and Daily Weather

◼ On a dreary overcast day with light drizzle,

stable air is forced aloft
◼ Ona day with towering clouds forming the
atmosphere is unstable
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Stability and Daily Weather

◼ How stability changes:

◼ Instability
is enhanced by the following:
◼ Intense warming of the lowest layer of the
atmosphere
◼ Heating of an air mass from below
◼ General upward movement of air caused by
orographic lifting, frontal wedging, and
convergence
◼ Radiation cooling from cloud tops
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Stability and Daily Weather

◼ How stability changes:

◼ Stabilityis enhanced by the following:
◼ Radiation cooling of Earth’s surface after
sunset
◼ Cooling of an air mass from below as it
traverses cold surface
◼ General subsidence within an air column
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Stability and Daily Weather

◼ Temperature changes and stability:

◼ As air moves horizontally over the surface with
different temperatures changes in stability occur
◼ Ex: When warm air from the Gulf of Mexico
moves north over the snow covered Midwest,
the air is cooled from below, it becomes more
stable, often producing widespread fog.
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Stability and Daily Weather

◼ Ex:In winter, polar air move south over over

the Great Lakes. Polar air is then rendered
sufficiently unstable when the cold, dry air
passes over a warm, wet surface, which can
often produce lake effect snow over the Great
Lakes.
+Vertical Air Movement and
Stability
◼ Subsidence is a general, downward air flow.
◼ Usually, surface air is not involved.
◼ When there is a general downward airflow, the
upper portion of the subsiding layer is heated by
compression more than the lower. So, the net effect
is to stabilize the air because the air aloft is warmed
more than the surface air.
◼ The warming effect of a few 100m of subsidence is
enough to evaporate the clouds. Resulting in clear blue
skies :)
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Final Summary

◼ The air’s stability or, lack of it, determines to

a large degree whether clouds develop and
produce precipitation and whether that
precipitation will come as a gentle shower or a
violent down pour.
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Final Summary

◼ Ingeneral, when stable air is forced up, the

associated clouds have very little vertical
thickness and precipitation, if any, is light.
◼ Incontrast, clouds associated with unstable air
are towering and are frequently accompanied
by heavy precipitation.