lclvl

Calculates the pressure of the lifting condensation level.

Prototype

	function lclvl (
		p    : numeric,  
		tk   : numeric,  
		tdk  : numeric   
	)

	return_val [dimsizes(p)] :  numeric

Arguments

A multi-dimensional array of pressures in hPa/mb.

A multi-dimensional array of temperatures in K. Must be the same size as p.

A multi-dimensional array of dew point temperatures. Must be the same size as p.

Description

Calculates the pressure of the lifting condensation level computed by an iterative procedure described by equations 8-12 (pp 13-14) of:

Stipanuk, G.S., (1973) original version.
"Algorithms for generating a skew-t, log p diagram and computing selected 
meteorological quantities."

Atmospheric sciences laboratory
U.S. Army Electronics Command
White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico 88002

Examples

Example 1

Wallace and Hobbs [Atmospheric Science: An introductory Survey, Academic Press (p106, problem 2.49)] state that at p=1000 [hPa], t=15 [C] and td=4, the lifting condensation level is approximately 848 hPa.

  p    = 1000.           ; hPa
  tk   =   15. + 273.15  ; K
  tdk  =    4. + 273.15  ; K

  plcl = lclvl(p,tk,tdk)   ; plcl = 848.6

Let p, tk and tdk be three-dimensional with dimensions time, lat, and lon. Then:

  plcl = lclvl(p,tk,tdk)   ; plcl(time,lat,lon)