[CF-metadata] atmosphere stability indices

From: Jonathan Gregory <j.m.gregory>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 10:28:50 +0100

Dear all

I chose a new subject because these threads about lifted_index, total_totals_
index and Seth's new standard names for CIN etc. are closely related.

I agree with the suggestion from Philip to include _from_the_surface on names
referring to surface parcels (it was previously clarified that really means
from the surface, not "surface air" i.e. screen height), and omit it when the
parcel comes from a different level that is identified by a numeric coordinate.
That is consistent with the general pattern that special physical surfaces
(such as the surface i.e. bottom of atmos) appear by name in standard_names
when relevant, whereas levels specified by coordinates do not.

Excuse my making a late suggestion on another matter. I think "start" and
"finish" are OK but they make it sound like a real trajectory, whereas these
are just calculations from the state of the atmos. I would therefore like to
suggest "source" (for "start"), which has the same sense of "where the parcel
came from" that "origin" has, but doesn't have the potential confusion. E.g.
air_pressure_of_lifted_parcel_at_source. What do you think?

As for "finish", which names require this? I wonder about using "ambient" for
"finish", in cases where the idea is to compare the parcel with the environment
at the end of its notional journey. Again, what do you think?

Going back to Seth's proposal, I wonder if
atmosphere_specific_convective_inhibition
atmosphere_specific_convective_available_potential_energy
are really best regarded as a trajectory. They are integral quantities. In
those two cases, I suggest it would be fairly natural to give them bounds in
a vertical coordinate to indicate the limits of integration.

Best wishes

Jonathan
Received on Tue Jun 04 2013 - 03:28:50 BST