Technical details on the SkewT and its many applications

• Overview

​         1) Dr. Fitz's technical notes - contains definitions, SkewT graphics, and equations for most pertinent stability-related variables
         2) Virtual temperature and derivation of simplified version
             Virtual temperature allows use of the Equation of State, without adjusting the dry air Gas Constant
         3) Two versions of wet-bulb temperature
         4) Simplified dewpoint expression for RH>50% (don't use for precision or RH<50%)
         5) Precipitable Water (PW)
         6) Convective instability (also called potential instability or layer instability)
         7) Stability classification based on vertical profile of temperature, potential temperature, and equivalent potential temperature
             (historical notes from Penn State University)
         8) Convective Condensation Level (CCL) and Convection Temperature
         9) Simplified expression for LCL height formulation
             Also see this Stull lecture, then find T_LCL from the lapse rate equation T_LCL=T - 9.8*Z_LCL .
             This paper analyzes the accuracy of the simplified expression .
       10) Other saturation vapor pressure formulations for water or ice, valid for a wide range of temperatures
             See Eqs. 21-24 here
             See Eqs. 17 and 18 here 

• Impact of entrainment and detrainment on buoyancy

        1) Details (historical notes from Penn State University)
        2) Estimates of observed wmax from MUCAPE 
        3) Advanced material on entrainment and detrainment
        4) Effects of entrainment on CAPE used in cloud parameterization in weather models
        5) How CAPE and CIN are formulated in models, including quantification of entrainment 

• SkewT documents

         1) The classic Air Force document
         2) Shorter version
         3) COMET module (careful, different symbols than in my notes)

• SkewT videos

          1) AVWX workshop video
          2) Weather in the Vertical video
          3) Quick overview of SkewT
          4) Two potential temperature videos. Video one. Video two (example calculation).

• Dr. Fitz's SkewT videos

           1a) Video - dry adiabatic and potential temperature example . 1b) Notes. 1c) Graphic.
           2a) Video - Moisture parameters and LCL example. 2b) Notes. 2c) Graphic. 2d) Example spreadsheet.
           3a) Video - Wet-bulb example. 3b) Notes. 3c) Graphic. 3d) Example spreadsheet.
           4a) Video - Te and theta-e example. 4b) Notes. 4c) Graphic. 4d) Example spreadsheet.
           5a) Video - LFC, CAPE, EL example. 5b) Notes. 5c) Graphics. 5d) Example spreadsheet.

• Blank SkewTs

           1) Classic version
           2) Various resolutions
           3) Teaching version of SkewT
           4) Teaching version of "Modified" SkewT

•  Derived stability parameters

           1) General stability indices.
           2) Doswell and Schultz paper on issues regarding using severe weather diagnostics (an interesting read, not required)

• Iteration techniques (often used in SkewT calculations for LCL, wetbulb, and moist adiabatic)

           1) Bisection method
           2) Spreadsheet examples for Tw and parcel T as a function of pressure and thetae
           3) FORTRAN examples: sqrt(7) and parcel T as a function of pressure and thetae
               (not required for class, for those with a programming interest)
           4) Video lecture on bisection method (second part of lecture). Audio only.