A conditionally unstable atmosphere is ____ with respect to unsaturated air and ____ with respect to saturated air.

Question

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

To tackle this meteorology question, start by recalling what conditional instability means for air parcels.
Option 1: 'stable; unstable' suggests the atmosphere is stable for unsaturated air but unstable for saturated air. In reality, unsaturated (dry) air tends to be stable when lifted, resisting vertical motion, while saturated (moist) air can become unstable due to latent heat release. Therefore this option would imply the opposite behavior and is not consistent with typical conditional instability.
Option 2: 'stable; stable' claims both unsaturated and saturated air are stable. This would imply no tendency for convection under either state, which contradicts the concept of conditional instability where moist processes can promote instability and convection once saturation occurs.
Option 3: 'unstable; stable' posits that unsaturated air is unstable while saturated air is stable. This is inconsistent with the definition of conditional instability, which involves the moist adiabatic lapse rate becoming greater than the environmental lapse rate after saturation, leading to instability in the saturated case rather than the unsaturated case.
Option 4: 'unstable; unstable' would mean both unsaturated and saturated air are unstable, implying ubiquitous convection regardless of moisture state. While moisture can enhance instability, the classic conditional instability scenario distinguishes stability in the unsaturated state from instability after saturation, so this choice mischaracterizes the typical behavior.
In summary, the concept of conditional instability describes a stable unsaturated layer that becomes unstable when moisture is added and the air saturates, allowing convection to commence. By process of elimination, the option that aligns with that behavior is the first, which asserts stable for unsaturated air and unstable for saturated air. The other options fail to capture the moisture-dependent switch from stability to instability that conditional instability describes.

11:670:101:01 INTRO TO METEOROLOGY Quiz 2

A conditionally unstable atmosphere is with respect to unsaturated air and with respect to saturated air.

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