The “Notch” in Unstable Layers and the Stability Minimum in the Tropics

Abstract

Abstract In a previous paper, we identified a “notch” in unstable layers at Koror (7.3 0N, 134.5 0E), where there was a relative deficiency in thin unstable layers and a corresponding relative excess in thicker layers, at altitudes centered at 12 km. We hypothesized that this feature was associated with the previously identified stability minimum in the tropics at that same altitude. In this paper, we extend our studies of this “notch” and its association with the tropical stability minimum by examining other stations in the deep tropics and also some stations at higher latitudes within the tropics. We find that this “notch” feature is found at all the other radiosonde stations in the deep tropics that we examined. We also find that the annual variations in unstable layer occurrences at stations at higher latitudes within the tropics show variations consistent with our hypothesis that this “notch” is associated with the region of minimum stability in the tropics at altitudes centered around 12 km, in that the annual variation in this “notch” feature is consistent with the annual variation of minimum stability in this region. Two factors contribute to the “notch” feature. One is that the data quality control procedure of the analysis rejects many thin layers due to the small trend-to-noise ratio in the region of minimum stability. The other is that the cloud-top outflow, which was previously identified with the stability minimum, advects thicker unstable layers throughout the deep tropics at the altitudes of the “notch.”