Suppose the air pressure outside a conventional jet airliner flying at an altitude of 10 km (about 33,000 ft) is 250 mb. further, suppose the air inside the aircraft is pressurized to 1000 mb. if the outside air temperature is –50°c, what would be the temperature of this air if brought inside the aircraft and compressed at the dry adiabatic rate to a pressure of 1000 mb? (assume that a pressure of 1000 mb is equivalent to an altitude of 0 m.) note: do not include units in answer submission, answer in units of °c.

conditional instability (Γd >  Γe > Γw)

Explanation:

Given;

dry adiabatic rate, Γd = 10ºC/1000 meters

wet adiabatic rate, Γw= 6.5ºC/1000 meters

environmental lapse rate, Γe = 7.8ºC/1000 meters

Stability of the atmosphere can be described as Absolute stability, Absolute instability or conditional instability.

Conditions for Absolute stability:

Γd > Γw > Γe

Conditions for Absolute instability:

Γe > Γd > Γw

Conditions for conditional instability:

Γd >  Γe > Γw

Thus, conditional instability satisfies the given values of the atmospheric condition: Γd (10) > Γe (7.8) >  Γw (6.5)