Convective inhibition
Convective inhibition (CIN or CINH) is a numerical measure in meteorology that indicates the amount of energy that will prevent an air parcel from rising from the ground surface to the level of free convection.
The situation in which convective inhibition is measured is when layers of warmer air are above a particular region of air. The effect of having warm air above a cooler air parcel is to prevent the cooler air parcel from rising into the atmosphere. This creates a stable region of air. Convective inhibition indicates the amount of energy that will be required to force the cooler packet of air to rise. This energy comes from fronts, heating, moistening, or mesoscale convergence boundaries such as outflow and sea breeze boundaries, orographic lift.
Typically, an area with a high convenction inihibition number is considered stable and has very little likelihood of developing a thunderstorm. Conceptually, it is the opposite of CAPE.
References
- National Weather Service Glossary - C (21 April 2005). Retrieved on August 22, 2006.
- Haby, Jeff (February 28 2004). Ingredients for Thunderstorms and Severe Thunderstorms. The Weather Prediction.Com. Retrieved on August 22, 2006.
- Bol, Alan (2002). Buoyancy and CAPE. Principles of Convection I. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Retrieved on August 22, 2006.
External links
Categories
Weather | Severe weather and convection | Atmospheric thermodynamics