Séminaire
Convective available potential energy (CAPE), which is the potential energy available to storm updrafts, has long played a central role in predicting severe weather. Global climate models (GCMs) predict large increases in CAPE, and this has led to predictions of much more frequent bad weather, including severe winds and lighting. But, what drives this increase in CAPE? Until recently, there has been no successful theory for CAPE in a moist convecting atmosphere. In this talk, I will show analytical solutions to a moist convecting atmosphere, including an analytical solution for CAPE. The insight gained from this expression explains why CAPE increases so dramatically with warming, and lends theoretical support to the forecasted increases in severe weather.
marie-pierre.lefebvre@lmd.jussieu.fr