Atmospheric Instability and Cloud Development - Deep Convection
In a deep conditionally unstable or absolutely unstable environment, one may expect clouds to develop with significant vertical development
may observe
On the diagram to the right:
QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT:
1. Are the bases on convective clouds generally higher during the day or the night? Explain. If the vapor pressure at a given location remains the same during the day, when will cloud base be highest on that day.
2. How is it possible for a layer of air to be convectively unstable and absolutely stable at the same time?
3. Use the summertime map of vapor pressure in Ch5 to help you explain why the bases of cumulus clouds, which form from rising thermals during the summer, increase in height above the surface as you move due west of a line that runs north-south through central Kansas.
4. If the height of a cumulus cloud is 1000m above the surface, and the dew point as the earth's surface beneath the cloud is 20 ºC, determine the air temperature at the earth's surface beneath the cloud.
