Adiabats & Potential Temperature

Dry Adiabat = 333

·         Potential Temperature – A measure of heat. It is the temperature air would be if brought dry adiabatically to 1000 mb.

·         How much warmer will the potential temperature increase?

o   Has hidden heat, Lift up, pressure decreases, starts expanding, starts making hidden heat into real heat, which is determined by how much latent heat is left in the parcel

o   Wet adiabatic line will be parallel to the dry adiabatic line

§  Vapor starts condensing which makes latent heat turn into real heat

·         Latent heat becoming real is what is increasing the potential temperature -  delta = measure of real heat