wrote:

On 24 Nov 2004 21:38:35 -0800, (Andrew
Sarangan) wrote:


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message link.net...

2C per thousand has nothing to do with stability. In unsaturated air,
2C/1000 is stable. In saturated air 2C/1000 is unstable. 2C/1000 is the
standard for calibrating altimeters, it has nothing to do with the real
atmosphere or stability.

Mike
MU-2

Adiabatic lapse rate is 1C/1"Hg for moist air (depending on moisture
content) and 3C/1"Hg for dry air. 2C/1"Hg is a representative average
for somewhat moist but unsaturated air. It is still a useful indicator
of stability. I would not discount is as a completely meaningless
number. It is a useful reference, just like 29.92" and 15C.




Adiabatic lapse rate never changes. It is not a useful indicator of
stability. It tells you nothing about stability until you know the
actual lapse rate of the air mass in question.

It depends on which adiabatic lapse rate is being considered. The dry
adiabatic lapse rate is basically constant, but the moist/wet rates are not.

Matt