most_unstable_parcel#
- metpy.calc.most_unstable_parcel(pressure, temperature, dewpoint, height=None, bottom=None, depth=None)#
Determine the most unstable parcel in a layer.
Determines the most unstable parcel of air by calculating the equivalent potential temperature and finding its maximum in the specified layer.
- Parameters
pressure (
pint.Quantity
) – Atmospheric pressure profiletemperature (
pint.Quantity
) – Atmospheric temperature profiledewpoint (
pint.Quantity
) – Atmospheric dewpoint profileheight (
pint.Quantity
, optional) – Atmospheric height profile. Standard atmosphere assumed when None (the default).bottom (
pint.Quantity
, optional) – Bottom of the layer to consider for the calculation in pressure or height. Defaults to using the bottom pressure or height.depth (
pint.Quantity
, optional) – Depth of the layer to consider for the calculation in pressure or height. Defaults to 300 hPa.
- Returns
pint.Quantity
– Pressure, temperature, and dewpoint of most unstable parcel in the profileinteger – Index of the most unstable parcel in the given profile
See also
Notes
Only functions on 1D profiles (not higher-dimension vertical cross sections or grids). Since this function returns scalar values when given a profile, this will return Pint Quantities even when given xarray DataArray profiles.
Changed in version 1.0: Renamed
heights
parameter toheight