Convective available potential energy
Measure of instability in the air as a buoyancy force / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In meteorology, convective available potential energy (commonly abbreviated as CAPE),[1] is the integrated amount of work that the upward (positive) buoyancy force would perform on a given mass of air (called an air parcel) if it rose vertically through the entire atmosphere. Positive CAPE will cause the air parcel to rise, while negative CAPE will cause the air parcel to sink. Nonzero CAPE is an indicator of atmospheric instability in any given atmospheric sounding, a necessary condition for the development of cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds with attendant severe weather hazards.
This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (November 2014) |