3. Stability

Changing Stability » Advection Introduction

Advection, both at the surface and aloft, has a strong influence on the lapse rate through a given region of the atmosphere. Before making a forecast from a sounding, consider the lapse rate changes that will result from the effects of advection during the forecast period.

The advection effects may be visualized as two processes:

  1. Uniform advection of an air mass with a different lapse rate
  2. Differential advection of temperature due to vertical wind shear