GEOG 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Lifted Condensation Level, Fluid Parcel, Adiabatic Process
Document Summary
Air parcels- body of air that has speci c temperature and humidity characteristics: density determined by temperature. Adiabatic- condition in which energy does not enter or leave a system. Two major rules: rising air parcels expand and cool as they move up in the atmosphere, sinking air parcels are compressed and warm as they move lower in the atmosphere. Adiabatic process- change in sensible heat within a gas because of compression or expansion, without a gain or loss of heat from the outside. Lapse rate- determines how much air cools as it rises: measured in celsius/km. Unsaturated or dry air cools 10c/km: dry adiabatic lapse rate (dalr) Aka unsaturated adiabatic lapse rate: sinking air will warm at this rate. When the water vapor condenses and clouds form. Latent heat is released from the water vapor to the atmosphere. !1: therefore salr is less then dalr because latent heat is released by condensing water.
