How to Locate a Capping Inversion on a Sounding
A cap, or capping inversion, is a layer of warm air that's usually several thousand feet above the ground. When a cap is in place it can prevent a thunderstorm from taking place by stopping the cool air below it from rising and forming storm clouds. A meteorologist who tries to predict whether a storm will take place will often look at a sounding--a graph representing temperature and dew point at different levels of the atmosphere--to determine if there is a cap in place.
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Instructions
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1
Locate the temperature line on the sounding. This line will be plotted vertically up the graph and will be denoted by a particular color in the sounding's key.
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2
Determine if the sounding depicts temperature lowering or rising as it goes from right to left.
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3
Follow the temperature line as the temperature decreases in the sounding.
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4
Locate the point where the line begins to show a temperature increase.
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5
Locate the point where the line begins to show another temperature decrease. The area of the line between the two points located in Steps 4 and 5 is the capping.
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