absolute instability"1. The state of a column of air in the atmosphere when it has a superadiabatic lapse rate of temperature (i.e., greater than the dry-adiabatic lapse rate).
absolute instability—A state of a layer within the atmosphere in which the vertical distribution of temperature is such that an air parcel, if given an upward or downward push, ...
ABSOLUTE INSTABILITY
When the lapse rate of a column of air is greater than the dry adiabatic lapse rate. The term absolute is used because this applies whether or not the air is dry or saturated.
Related term: instability ...
Absolute Instability - The condition of air that has an environmental lapse rate that is greater than the dry adiabatic rate (1°C per 100 meters).
Absolute instability Property of an ambient air layer that is unstable for both saturated (cloudy) and unsaturated (clear) air parcels.
Stability: Absolute Instability: Adiabatic lapse rate greater than 5 degs. F.,3.0 degs. C. per 1,000 feet. Stability: Absolute Stability Isothermal: Temperature remaing the same from surface to some point aloft.
A relatively small-scale, rising current of air produced when the atmosphere is heated enough locally by the earth's surface to produce absolute instability in its lowest layers.
LAPSE RATE The change of an atmospheric variable, usually temperature, with height. A steep lapse rate implies a rapid decrease in temperature with height and is a sign of instability. Related term: absolute instability ...
 See also: Instability, Air, Atmosphere, Temperature, Earth
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