Convective inhibition

convective inhibition

(Abbreviated CIN.) The energy needed to lift an air parcel vertically and pseudoadiabatically from its originating level to its level of free convection (LFC).

For an air parcel possessing positive CAPE, the CIN represents the negative area on a thermodynamic diagram having coordinates linear in temperature and logarithmic in pressure. The negative area typically arises from the presence of a lid. Even though other factors may be favorable for development of convection, if convective inhibition is sufficiently large, deep convection will not form. The convective inhibition is expressed (analogously to CAPE) as follows:

where p_i is the pressure at the level at which the parcel originates, p_f is the pressure at the LFC, R_d is the specific gas constant for dry air, T_vp is the virtual temperature of the lifted parcel, and T_ve is the virtual temperature of the environment. It is assumed that the environment is in hydrostatic balance and that the pressure of the parcel is the same as that of the environment.

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