Trade Wind Inversion Base Height Lookup

Identify measured contiguous inversion layers at caller lapse threshold and report observed base/top brackets; no climatological trade-wind lookup or inference of inversion between unresolved samples.

Description

An inversion has temperature increasing with height.

An inversion has temperature increasing with height. Contiguous measured intervals can bracket an observed layer under a gradient criterion.

When to use Trade Wind Inversion Base Height Lookup

Use this tool to identify measured contiguous inversion layers at caller lapse threshold and report observed base/top brackets; no climatological trade-wind lookup or inference of inversion between unresolved samples.

Prepare the sounding profile or forecast verification counts. Check pressure levels, wind conventions, units and any requested layer bounds.

How to use Trade Wind Inversion Base Height Lookup and understand its results

Prepare the sounding profile or forecast verification counts. Check pressure levels, wind conventions, units and any requested layer bounds.
Enter observedHeightsM, observedTemperaturesC, callerMinimumInversionGradientCPerKm using the field table and calculation rules, then run the tool.
Read qualifyingInversionBaseHeightsM, qualifyingInversionTopHeightsM, firstObservedInversionBaseM, inversionFound. The explanation below defines the units, signs, ordering and any flags or placeholder values.
If the tool reports an input issue, correct the values and run it again. Apply the stated assumptions when interpreting a successfully returned result.

Input field	Meaning	Value type; see rules below	Requirement
observedHeightsM	Observed heights m	list of number	Required
observedTemperaturesC	Observed temperatures c	list of number	Required
callerMinimumInversionGradientCPerKm	Caller minimum inversion gradient c per km	number	Required

Align increasing meter heights and Celsius temperatures with nonnegative minimum gradient. Join consecutive qualifying intervals; return bases, tops and the first base. With none, return false and first base −1.^[1]

Paired lists must be nonempty and have equal lengths. Each sequence checked for increasing order must contain at least two strictly increasing values.

qualifying = upper temperature > lower AND 1000 × temperature change/height change ≥ minimum C/km

Units, indexing, boundary conditions and exceptional cases are defined in the calculation rules above.

Output field	Meaning	Value type
qualifyingInversionBaseHeightsM	Qualifying inversion base heights m	list of number
qualifyingInversionTopHeightsM	Qualifying inversion top heights m	list of number
firstObservedInversionBaseM	First observed inversion base m	number
inversionFound	Inversion found	boolean

json

{
  "input": {
    "observedHeightsM": [
      0,
      1000,
      2000,
      3000
    ],
    "observedTemperaturesC": [
      20,
      10,
      15,
      10
    ],
    "callerMinimumInversionGradientCPerKm": 1
  },
  "output": {
    "qualifyingInversionBaseHeightsM": [
      1000
    ],
    "qualifyingInversionTopHeightsM": [
      2000
    ],
    "firstObservedInversionBaseM": 1000,
    "inversionFound": true
  }
}

Limitations and assumptions

No climatological lookup or unresolved intersample inversion is inferred.

Numbers and computed results must be finite; overflow produces an error. Numeric lists are limited to 100,000 entries; the rules above may require smaller limits. Missing required fields, extra fields, wrong value types and violations of the calculation rules are input errors. A successfully returned false flag is an evaluated outcome; its meaning is explained above.

Alternative or Complementary methods

Use Total Totals Index: Resolve named vertical/cross/total totals from fixed 850/500-hPa observations; unlike K index, no 700-hPa moisture layer and no storm occurrence/safety classification. For a complementary task, use Storm Relative Helicity SRH: Integrate signed storm-relative hodograph helicity over bounded observed layer using piecewise-linear winds and supplied storm motion; clockwise turns use positive conventional SRH, not tornado probability.

References

Trade Wind Inversion Base Height Lookup — tool.io

Similar or alternative tools

Total Totals Index
Resolve named vertical/cross/total totals from fixed 850/500-hPa observations; unlike K index, no 700-hPa moisture layer and no storm occurrence/safety classification.
Storm Relative Helicity SRH
Integrate signed storm-relative hodograph helicity over bounded observed layer using piecewise-linear winds and supplied storm motion; clockwise turns use positive conventional SRH, not tornado probability.