20041011: CAPE computation in GEMPAK

Donna,

The sounding below has a few quirks, including the botched
lat/lon and station elevation.

The CAPE/CINS cannot be calculated from the sounding due to
the embedded missing data levels. It seems that somehow
along the way you have moved from a merged sounding to an unmerged 
sounding. Dun-no.

At any rate, the sounding could be cleaned up by hand, but just as easy 
to download the raw data from FSL's archive:
ZCZC
USUS80 KWBC 201200
BMXMANBMX
72230 TTAA  70121 72230 99992 23405 26004 00108 ///// ///// 
92794 27264 ///// 85536 22262 27512 70180 07456 27514 50587 
08971 28520 40756 20979 31023 30962 37173 27034 25086 41377 
27042 20234 51975 28536 15416 63571 26518 10659 73965 30005 
88999 77999 
NNNN

ZCZC
USUS80 KWBC 201200
BMXSGLBMX
72230 TTBB  7012/ 72230 00992 23405 11960 23412 22936 24056 
33917 27665 44711 08022 55684 07066 66666 06473 77658 05258 
88578 04322 99567 03172 11558 02384 22408 20572 33392 21384 
44243 41978 55141 65969 
NNNN

ZCZC
USUS80 KWBC 201200
BMXSGLBMX
PPBB  70120 72230 90046 26004 28511 26513 90789 26014 26014 
26013 91245 28513 27013 26014 916// 27518 92045 29019 32023 
30523 93015 28029 27530 26541 938// 28044 94245 28536 28025 
26020 947// 27516 9504/ 33014 31003 
NNNN

I converted the above with dcuair:
cat bmx | dcuair -c 990820/1200 -d - YYYYMMDDHH.gem

Now running snlist gives the values you mentioned:

 SNPARM = PRES;HGHT;TMPC;DWPC;RELH;DRCT;SKNT                                    
 STNPRM = CAPE;CINS                                                             

 STID = BMX           STNM =    72230   TIME = 990820/1200         
 SLAT =  33.16     SLON =   -86.76   SELV =   178.0
 STIM =  1200

 CAPE =  1936.18    CINS =  -232.60

      PRES     HGHT     TMPC     DWPC     RELH     DRCT     SKNT
    992.00   178.00    23.40    22.90    97.02   260.00     4.00
   1000.00   108.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00
    960.00   466.66    23.40    22.20    92.98   266.93     5.94
    936.00   689.51    24.00    18.00    69.14   272.28     7.44
    925.00   794.00    27.20    13.20    42.03   274.77     8.13
    917.00   870.82    27.60    12.60    39.47   276.61     8.65
    881.30  1219.00    24.77    11.34    42.95   285.00    10.99
    850.00  1536.00    22.20    10.20    46.49   275.00    12.00
    821.15  1829.00    19.45     9.35    52.00   265.00    13.00
    792.16  2134.00    16.60     8.46    58.63   260.00    14.01
    764.28  2438.00    13.75     7.58    66.31   260.00    14.01
    737.30  2743.00    10.89     6.70    75.32   260.00    13.00
    711.00  3051.21     8.00     5.80    85.99   270.49    13.70
    700.00  3180.00     7.40     1.40    65.70   275.00    14.01
    684.00  3370.47     7.00    -9.00    30.98   278.98    13.60
    666.00  3589.45     6.40   -16.60    17.46   283.56    13.14
    660.45  3658.00     5.57    -7.04    39.80   285.00    13.00
    658.00  3688.42     5.20    -2.80    56.27   284.26    13.00
    612.31  4267.00    -0.07    -4.85    70.19   270.00    13.00
    589.51  4572.00    -2.85    -5.94    79.30   260.00    14.01
    578.00  4730.51    -4.30    -6.50    84.62   267.73    16.07
    567.39  4877.00    -3.14   -24.43    17.56   275.00    18.01
    567.00  4882.45    -3.10   -25.10    16.48   275.05    18.02
    558.00  5009.30    -2.30   -36.30     5.35   276.32    18.27
    500.00  5870.00    -8.90   -29.90    16.48   285.00    20.01
    485.33  6096.00   -10.60   -31.75    15.80   290.00    19.00
    413.31  7315.00   -19.76   -41.70    12.36   320.00    23.00
    408.00  7413.22   -20.50   -42.50    12.10   316.05    23.00
    400.00  7560.00   -20.90   -49.90     5.53   310.00    23.00
    396.76  7620.00   -21.06   -52.07     4.36   305.00    23.00
    392.00  7709.12   -21.30   -55.30     3.03   303.58    23.34
    320.67  9144.00   -33.16   -58.90     5.77   280.00    29.00
    307.27  9449.00   -35.69   -59.67     6.71   275.00    29.99
    300.00  9620.00   -37.10   -60.10     7.32   270.00    33.99
    257.16 10668.00   -40.65   -67.03     4.20   265.00    41.01
    250.00 10860.00   -41.30   -68.30     3.77   270.00    42.00
    243.00 11052.20   -41.90   -69.90     3.20   272.62    42.52
    224.29 11582.00   -46.01   -72.78     3.28   280.00    44.00
    200.00 12340.00   -51.90   -76.90     3.44   285.00    35.99
    185.92 12802.00   -54.84   -78.83     3.61   285.00    35.99
    168.85 13411.00   -58.73   -81.37     3.87   280.00    25.00
    160.91 13716.00   -60.67   -82.65     4.01   260.00    20.01
    150.00 14160.00   -63.50   -84.50     4.25   265.00    18.01
    145.99 14326.00   -64.55   -84.68     4.75   275.00    16.01
    141.00 14538.83   -65.90   -84.90     5.49   287.56    15.55
    125.37 15240.00   -68.63   -86.27     6.33   330.00    14.01
    102.22 16459.00   -73.39   -88.64     8.28   310.00     2.99
    100.00 16590.00   -73.90   -88.90     8.53   300.00     4.99


Steve Chiswell
Unidata User Support





>From: address@hidden
>Organization: UCAR/Unidata
>Keywords: 200410112139.i9BLdbUE015867

>----------
>X-Sun-Data-Type: text
>X-Sun-Data-Description: text
>X-Sun-Data-Name: text
>X-Sun-Charset: us-ascii
>X-Sun-Content-Lines: 14
>
>I have a favorite sounding I like to use to illustrate stability 
>parameters.  It got so dogeared that I wanted to replot it.  My 
>original GEMPAK plot (version unknown) calculates the CAPE as 1936
>and the CINS as 233.  The plot I just made gives zero for both
>parameters.  Has the algorithm for calculating CAPE changed?  This
>sounding is so unstable that it seems that it would have positive
>CAPE no matter how you calculate it.  Edit file of sounding is
>attached.
>
>Donna Tucker                      1475 Jayhawk Blvd.
>Associate Professor               213 Lindley Hall 
>address@hidden                     Department of Geography
>(785) 864-4738                            University of Kansas                
>  
>(785) 864-5378 (fax)               Lawrence, KS  66045-7613                   
>  
>----------
>X-Sun-Data-Type: default
>X-Sun-Data-Description: default
>X-Sun-Data-Name: demo.gem
>X-Sun-Charset: us-ascii
>X-Sun-Content-Lines: 52
>
>SNPARM = pres;hght;tmpc;dwpc;relh;drct;sknt
> STID = BMX STNM =    53823    TIME = 990820/1200
>  SLAT =    33.10000     SLON =    -0.00000     SELV = -4262372
>     PRES     HGHT     TMPC     DWPC     RELH     DRCT    SKNT
>   992.00   178.00    23.40    22.90    96.96   260.00     4.08
>  1000.00   108.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   960.00   462.00    23.40    22.20    92.84 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   936.00   681.00    24.00    18.00    68.65 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   925.00   794.00    27.20    13.20    41.36 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   917.00   870.00    27.60    12.60    38.81 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   881.00  1219.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   285.00    11.08
>   850.00  1536.00    22.20    10.20    45.95   275.00    12.05
>   821.00  1828.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   265.00    13.02
>   792.00  2133.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   260.00    14.00
>   764.00  2438.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   260.00    14.00
>   736.00  2743.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   260.00    13.02
>   711.00  3039.00     8.00     5.80    85.89 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   700.00  3180.00     7.40     1.40    65.54   275.00    14.00
>   684.00  3369.00     7.00    -9.00    30.96 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   666.00  3587.00     6.40   -16.60    17.57 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   660.00  3657.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   285.00    13.02
>   658.00  3685.00     5.20    -2.80    56.19 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   612.00  4267.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   270.00    13.02
>   589.00  4572.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   260.00    14.00
>   578.00  4721.00    -4.30    -6.50    84.67 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   567.00  4872.00    -3.10   -25.10    16.85 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   567.00  4876.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   275.00    18.08
>   558.00  4998.00    -2.30   -36.30     5.65 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   500.00  5870.00    -8.90   -29.90    17.00   285.00    20.02
>   485.00  6096.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   290.00    19.05
>   413.00  7315.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   320.00    22.94
>   408.00  7405.00   -20.50   -42.50    12.91 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   400.00  7560.00   -20.90   -49.90     6.13   310.00    22.94
>   397.00  7620.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   305.00    22.94
>   392.00  7709.00   -21.30   -55.30     3.47 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   321.00  9144.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   280.00    28.97
>   307.00  9448.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   275.00    29.94
>   300.00  9620.00   -37.10   -60.10     8.37   270.00    34.02
>   257.00 10668.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   265.00    41.02
>   250.00 10860.00   -41.30   -68.30     4.58   270.00    41.99
>   243.00 11052.00   -41.90   -69.90     3.95 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   224.00 11582.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   280.00    43.93
>   200.00 12340.00   -51.90   -76.90     4.41   285.00    35.96
>   186.00 12801.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   285.00    35.96
>   169.00 13411.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   280.00    25.08
>   161.00 13716.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   260.00    20.02
>   150.00 14160.00   -63.50   -84.50     5.62   265.00    18.08
>   146.00 14326.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   275.00    15.94
>   141.00 14537.00   -65.90   -84.90     7.13 -9999.00 -9999.00
>   125.00 15240.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   330.00    14.00
>   102.00 16459.00 -9999.00 -9999.00 -9999.00   310.00     2.92
>   100.00 16590.00   -73.90   -88.90    10.91   300.00     5.05
>
--
NOTE: All email exchanges with Unidata User Support are recorded in the
Unidata inquiry tracking system and then made publicly available
through the web.  If you do not want to have your interactions made
available in this way, you must let us know in each email you send to us.