Determining Stability » Lapse Rates Inversion
An inversion occurs when the temperature increases with increasing height. Because any air parcel that is displaced upward will cool according to the appropriate adiabatic lapse rate, inversions are a special case of a stable lapse rate.
Inversions form in response to several processes including (but not confined to) the following:
- Radiative surface cooling
- Subsidence aloft
- Frontal passage
Each of these processes is discussed in more detail in the appropriate part of the Changing Stability section.