What Website Can Help Me To Measure EQUILIBRIUM LEVELS?

Question

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Answer 1

(Or you can just use this link):

http://weather.unisys.com/upper_air/skew/index.html

Here's an example of a "loaded gun" sounding:

http://www.theweatherprediction.com/thermo/soundings/gun/

Severe thunderstorms are likely with such an unstable atmosphere, and the equilibrium is calculated to be at 175mb in that sounding. That is where the theoretical parcel of rising air reaches the altitude where the ambient air is the same temperature. It is represented graphically by the far right bold line (parcel) intersecting with the middle bold line (ambient temp).

It is also stated in the text on the right, under "-parcel-" where it says "EL:175"

Main page: http://www.theweatherprediction.com/

Answer 2

Excellent question. If you are looking for levels in the atmosphere that are stable or unstable relative to the existing lapse rates and the adiabatic lifting of an air parcel at that level then what you need are upper air soundings. This site http://weather.unisys.com/ is a good place to begin. Click on Upper Air Data under Analyses on the left hand side of the page. On the next page click on Upper Air Sounding Plots under Index on the right hand side of the page. Click on the closest city to you on the map on this page and you will have the upper air sounding called a Skew-T LnP for the two axes on the chart. There is not enough room here to guide you any further but with a little research you will be able to solve for stability tests at various levels in the atmosphere using this chart. Good luck.

Answer 3

The above links are excellent. I just wanted to add in one more:

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/soundings/

The SPC soundings give a lot of information in a clear format. The equilibrium level is listed at the end of the first box under the sounding (under EL) and depends on the parcel path you take.

You can also eyeball the EL by looking for the level where your parcel path crosses the temp line. Most sites draw on the parcel path for you.