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Tutorial A - Understanding and Using Soundings

Activities (2 parts)

A: Activities to follow along in class

B: Activities to do on your own

Activities A. Instructions/Exercises (with the instructor demonstrating and

the student following):

The activity numbers below correspond to the section numbers in the online Tutorial
Readings. You should already have with you hard copies of printouts S1 , S2 , and S3 .

1. The Environment - Supportive or Oppressive

No activities other than the online tutorial readings.

2. Soundings - To Measure the Environment

a. Thermo Diagram Basics: Start by identifying the temperature (T)

and pressure (P) lines (isotherms and isobars) that form the background of
these graphs (Fig 1, in the on-line Lab Readings, which is also included in
the S1 Printout that the student should bring to the lab). Pressure is used
as a surrogate measure of altitude, with lower pressures at higher
altitudes. This graph is a "semi-log" graph, with P decreasing
logarithmically along the vertical axis, and T increasing linearly along the
horizontal axis.

b. Plotting Environmental Soundings:

1) Plot the following environmental sounding of temperatures

(T) and dew-point (Td) on this background chart, to show
thermal layering of the atmosphere. Use large dots for T, and
use X's for Td (but students and TAs might prefer to use red
colour for T and blue for Td). Connect all the T dots
sequentially with lines, and connect all the Td points with
separate lines. The answer is shown in Fig 2 of the online lab
readings.

P(kPa) T (°C) Td (°C)

20 -30 -60
30 -30 -45
50 -10 -35

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65 10 -20
80 25 -5
90 25 20
100 40 25

Table 1. An atmosphere sounding of the environment.

2) Calculate the height of the cloud base (called the Lifting

Condensation Level, LCL), from ZLCL = a • (T - Td) where a =
0.125 km/°C, and where T and Td are temperature and dew
point of the air at the bottom sounding point.

3) Locate and label the tropopause, as the height (or pressure)

at the bottom of the isothermal layer in the top half of the
graph.

4) Identify layers of stratiform (layer) clouds. They are

regions where Td nearly equals T.

Beware of some common errors students make when plotting a sounding:

The P = 65°C isobar should be below the P = 60°C isobar, not above
it.
Straight lines should be used to connect the plotted points. Curved
lines should not be used.

3. Air Parcels - Tracking Them on Thermo Diagrams

a. Humidity of the Air: Identify the humidity mixing ratio (r) lines
(isohumes, Fig 3).

1) Plot the near-surface air parcel from the above sounding

(i.e., the air initially at P = 100 kPa with T = 40°C and Td =
25°C) on Fig 3 of the S1 Printout (the result is shown on Fig
4 of the Lab Readings). Then, use those isohumes to
determine the following:
2) actual mixing ratio (r) [Hint: based on
__________ g/kg Td]
3) saturation mixing ratio (rs) [Hint: based on T]
__________ g/kg
4) relative humidity (RH%). [Hint: RH% = 100
__________ % • r / rs]

Common errors in this part include:

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Humidity r and rs values should increase exponentially between

isohumes. Therefore don't interpolate linearly between isohumes.

b. Rise of Unsaturated Air Parcels: Identify the dry adiabat lines ( ,

isentropes, Fig 5). Plot the surface air parcel from before (i.e., plot the T
and Td points at 100 kPa on Fig 5), and then lift it dry adiabatically.
Namely, draw a line for air-parcel temperature (T) that follows or goes
parallel to the adiabats, and draw a separate line for Td that follows or goes
parallel to isohumes. Stop at the height where those two lines cross;
namely, where T = Td. This is how you find the lifting condensation level
(LCL), which is cloud base for the thunderstorm (answered in Fig 7).

1) LCL is at what pressure altitude? _______________

kPa
2) Find T, Td, r, rs, and RH% at the LCL.

A common error in this part is:

The line for T should be drawn parallel to the adiabats (not to the
isotherms) and Td should be drawn parallel to the isohumes (not to
the isotherms).

c. Rise of Saturated Air Parcels: Identify the saturated (moist)

adiabat lines ( L) in Fig 8. Plot a point in Fig 8 at the exact T and P of the
LCL from the previous exercise. Then continue lifting the air parcel up to
an altitude where P = 40 kPa, still drawing separate lines for T and for
total water content (now indicated by rT instead of by Td). The
temperature follows (or goes parallel to) the saturated adiabat on the way
up, and the humidity (now itentified as the total water mixing ratio rT,
which equals the initial r value before the parcel was lifted) follows the
isohume (answered in Fig 9). At this new location, determine the following
for the parcel:

1) T = ___________ °C
2) rs = ___________ g/kg
3) Td = ___________ °C [Hint: Td = T for
saturated air.]
4) r = ___________ g/kg [Hint: r = rs for
saturated air.]
5) rT = ___________ g/kg
6) liquid-water mixing ratio rL = rT -
rs = ___________ g/kg

where this last number shows how much liquid water (cloud and rain
droplets) are being carried by the air parcel.

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A common error in this section is:

Above the LCL, the line for parcel temperature should curve to
maintain its relative distance between neighbouring saturated
adiabats. Namely, the lines should gradually fan out as you go
higher in the graph.

d. Full Thermo Diagram: Examine Fig 10 (included in the S2

printout), which shows the complete thermo diagram with all the lines
(isobars, isotherms, isohumes, dry and moist adiabats). This is just a
superposition of all the previous graphs.

1) To get more accuracy from the thermo diagram, larger

diagrams are usually used in real life, with more lines
pre-drawn on them (S3 Printout). Using the S3 Printout,
identify the isobars, isotherms, isohumes, dry and moist
adiabats. [Hint: by tilting the S3 Printout in your hands to
view it from an edge, it is easier to focus on any one set of
lines. For example, view from the lower right corner.]

2) Although Fig 10 (or equivalently the S3 Printout) are used

here because of their simplicity (they are basically semi-log
graphs), there are other thermo diagrams that are used by
various agencies, and which are used to plot some of the
soundings that you can view on the web. Three types of
diagrams are very similar to the one we used here (Fig 10):
Emagram, Pseudoadiabatic diagram, and Stuve diagram.
However, there are two other diagrams which look similar to
each other, but a bit different from what we've learned so far.
They are the Tephigram, and Skew-T Log-P diagram (called a
Skew-T diagram for short)(see Fig 11 in printout S2).

a) Examine your copy of the Skew-T diagram in the S2

Printout, and identify the isobars, isotherms, isohumes, dry
and moist adiabats.
b) Plot the same sounding from lab exercise (2) on the
Skew-T of Fig 11 and the emagram of Fig 10, and compare
the results.

A common error in this part is:

Forgetting that temperatures are equal along isotherms

that tilt upward to the right in a Skew-T, rather than
along vertical lines as for emagrams.

4. Static Stability

a. No activities, other than the online tutorial readings.

b. No activities, other than the online tutorial readings.

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c. Following the instructions in the on-line Lab Readings, and using the
sounding from exercise 2 (which is replotted here as Fig 12 and on
printout S2), determine which regions of the environment are statically:

1) unstable (always do this first)

2) neutral
3) stable
4) Identify and label in Fig 12 strongly-statically stable
regions from the sounding.

Indicate your results along the right edge of Fig 12. The answers are shown
in Figs 13-15.

A common error in this section is:

You should always conceptually move air parcels as instructed in the

online reading rather than using lapse rates (slopes of line
segments) as was used in the old days. This old method would have
incorrectly identified the whole layer between P = 90 kPa and P =
80 kPa as being statically stable.

d. Interpretation of the Resulting Soundings: Strong static stability

are layers where T is constant with height (i.e., is isothermal), or where T
increases with height (a temperature inversion). The stratosphere is
strongly stable, and the base of the stratosphere (often somewhere in the
40 to 20 kPa pressure height range) is called the tropopause. Between the
tropopause and the ground is the troposphere. The tops of most large
thunderstorms are near the tropopause. The boundary layer is a relatively
thin layer of unstable or neutral stability near the ground, capped by a
statically stable lid or temperature inversion. The boundary layer holds the
warm-humid air that is the fuel for storms. Sounding characteristics that
are most conducive to severe thunderstorms are sketched in Fig 17 of the
online Lab Readings.

1) Identify and label the boundary layer and its capping stable
layer.
2) Identify and label the stratosphere, troposphere, and
tropopause.
3) Would you anticipate the sounding of Fig 12 to be
conducive to severe thunderstorms? (yes / no) Why?

The answers are shown in Fig 16.

5. Predicting Storm Intensity

a. How to Find Parcel Stability: To determine whether thunderstorms

could be triggered to start at all, we need to compare the rising air parcel
from the surface with the environmental sounding (Fig 18 of Printout S2).
List the four steps involved in determining storm intensity.

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b. Tracking Parcel Rise: Starting with Fig 18, draw a line showing how
the temperature and total mixing ratio change in a rising air parcel starting
from the surface with the same initial conditions as the environmental
sounding. For our example, this is in Fig 19 with all the background
thermo diagram lines removed for clarity.

c. Convective Inhibition (CIN) and Triggering: For a parcel rising

from the surface to become a thunderstorm, it must first penetrate the cap
on the boundary layer. However, the air parcel is colder than the
environmental temperature in this cap, which would tend to prevent
continued upward motion of the parcel (Fig 20) and would not allow a
thunderstorm to from.

Trigger mechanisms can overcome this obstacle two ways: (1) by forcing
the surface air parcel above the top of this cap (Fig 21); and (2) by heating
the surface air such that rising parcels are buoyany enough to penetrate
the cap on their own (Fig 22). Sometimes condition (2) is satisfied in later
afternoon, after the sun has caused more heating of the earth's surface.

1) Using Fig 18, to what pressure altitude must the air parcel
be lifted from the surface to trigger thunderstorms? This is
called the level of free convection (LFC). LFC = ________
kPa
2) Or, to what temperature must the parcel be heated near the
surface to give it enough buoyancy to penetrate the cap?
_____ °C

A common error in this part is:

When lifting the surface air parcel, first follow the dry adiabat. But
above the LCL don't forget to switch to following the saturated
adiabat.

d. Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE): Once the air

parcel from the surface is above the cap, it is warmer than the environment
and can continue to rise due to its own buoyancy (following the moist
adiabat) until it hits the stratosphere (Fig 23). This max height is called
the limit of convection (LOC), and gives the top of the thunderstorm anvil.

1) Starting from exercise 5.a.1, plot the additional parcel rise

in Fig 18, and find the pressure altitude of the top of the
thunderstorm. LOC = ____________ kPa

2) The area between the moist adiabat of the rising parcel and
the environmental sounding (between the LFC and LOC
heights) is proportional to the Convective Available Potential
Energy (CAPE). Larger values of CAPE means that the
thunderstorm can tap more of the buoyant energy associated
with latent heat release, to become a more intense storm.

a) On Fig 25 or on the full thermo diagram (S3 Printout), plot

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the environmental sounding (if not already plotted), and plot

the path that a surface air parcel would take if lifted to the top
of the graph.

b) Using the technique discussed in the on-line Tutorial

Readings, calculate the CAPE area: ______ °C km.

c) Determine the qualitative strength of the storm (no storm,

weak, moderate, strong, severe) using table BB from the
online Tutorial Readings.

6. Final Conclusions and Review:

You now know how to determine thunderstorm base, top, and trigger
needed to get it started. You can identify the boundary layer, cap,
troposphere, tropopause, and stratosphere. You can use the thermo
diagram to help calculate various humidities, to determine temperature
change of vertically moving air parcels, and to determine how much liquid
water could be produced within the one rising air parcel. You can identify
layers of stratiform and cumulus clouds. (Also, from the extra material of
section 4, you can find the static stability of the environment. From the
advanced materials, you can determine CAPE area and thunderstorm
intensity, and you can interpret Skew-T diagrams.)

Activities B. Homework / Independent Practice / Test Preparation

To help solidify your new skills as summarized in section 5e above, you might want to
try exercise 1 below. Exercise 2 below will not be covered on any tests, but provides real,
current soundings to study.

1. Practice this on your own as homework, with the following sounding on a blank
thermo diagram (S3 Printout):

P(kPa) T (°C) Td (°C)

20 -45 -60
25 -45 -45
30 -40 -40
40 -25 -60
60 0 -35
75 15 -15
80 7 5

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98 25 15
100 30 20

Table 2. A new atmospheric sounding of the environment.

a) Plot this new sounding on the full thermo diagram (S3 Printout).
b) Determine the static stability layering.
c) Identify the boundary layer, cap, troposphere, tropopause, and
stratosphere.
d) For an air parcel at the surface with the same T and Td as listed in
the table above at P=100 kPa, use the thermo diagram to estimate
its mixing ratio, saturation mixing ratio, and relative humidity
initially.
e) For this air parcel starting from the surface, draw lines on the
thermo diagram showing how the temperature and dew-point of this
air parcel change as it rises.
f) Find the pressure heights of the LCL, LFC and LOC.
g) Calculate the CAPE, and determine thunderstorm intensity.
h) Indicate what is needed to trigger this thunderstorm.
i) Identify any layers of stratiform or cumulus clouds, if any.

2. Use the following web link (or other links as suggested by the TA or prof), to
examine plots of real soundings near thunderstorms.

a)First look at national radar maps to find location of strong

thunderstorms, often indicated with the yellow and red shading.
Any of the following web sites can be used to view radar displays:

US National Radar (R) web sites. The first site (Ra) is often the
quickest and simplest. The other two sites provide more detail, and
allow you to click on the map to zoom into a region. Also, the last
site (Rc) gives storm-top altitutde, storm movement, and indications
of hail or tornadoes.
(Ra) American Meteorlogical Society DataStreme
(Rb) US National Weather Service
(Rc) Microsoft Intellicast

b) Next look at a map of the "upper-air" rawinsonde sounding

stations, and pick a station this is at, or just southeast, of the
thunderstorm location.

Atmospheric Sounding (S) web sites Pick a site that shows

either Stuve diagrams or emagrams, to view the soundings on
semi-log graphs similar to what was used in this course (i.e., similar
to Fig 10 in S2 Printout). Other sites display the soundings on
Skew-T diagrams (i.e., similar to Fig 11 in S2 Printout). Some sites
allow you to display a sounding in either form.
(Sa) U Wyoming: either Stuve and Skew-T (international, friendly,

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with CAPE)
(Sb) American Meteorlogical Society DataStreme: Stuves for US
(simplified)
(Sc) Ohio State Univ: Skew-T for US and Canada
(Sd) UCAR RAP: Skew-T (US and Canada) with CAPE
(Se) Northern Illinois Univ. Weather Machine (draws graphs on
demand): Emagram, Skew-T, or Stuve (international, with CAPE,
but no station list)

c) Retrieve the sounding for that station from the web. If your
sounding doesn't have large CAPE, try a diferent location near other
thunderstorms.
d) For each such plot, first identify which type of thermo diagram it
is (i.e., the type used here, or a Skew-T/Tephigram type).
e) Then identify all of the isopleths (isobars, isotherms, isohumes,
dry and moist adiabats, height contours if any).
f) Look at the sounding and identify the boundary layer, cap,
troposphere, and stratosphere.
g) For an air parcel starting from the surface, find the LCL, LFC,
LOC, CAPE, and thunderstorm intensity (often, these numbers are
computed automatically by the computer program that plotted the
graph, and are displayed near the graph).

Copyright © 2002 by Roland Stull

UBC ATSC
.

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