MLchartDataset catalogue

Capping

Term · Meteorology and atmospheric science · MLC-T-MET-000411

A region of negative buoyancy below an existing level of free convection (LFC) where energy must be supplied to the parcel to maintain its ascent.

This tends to inhibit the development of convection until some physical mechanism can lift a parcel to its LFC. The intensity of the cap is measured by its convective inhibition. The term capping inversion is sometimes used, but an inversion is not necessary for the conditions producing convective inhibition to exist.

Table 1. Record
IdentifierMLC-T-MET-000411
FieldMeteorology and atmospheric science
ReferencesNWS Glossary
Record as JSON
{
  "id": "MLC-T-MET-000411",
  "term": "Capping",
  "field": "Meteorology and atmospheric science",
  "definition": "A region of negative buoyancy below an existing level of free convection (LFC) where energy must be supplied to the parcel to maintain its ascent.\n\nThis tends to inhibit the development of convection until some physical mechanism can lift a parcel to its LFC. The intensity of the cap is measured by its convective inhibition. The term capping inversion is sometimes used, but an inversion is not necessary for the conditions producing convective inhibition to exist.",
  "references": [
    "NWS Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/meteorology/capping/"
}

Record 411 of 3,164 in Meteorology and atmospheric science terminology (MLC-0110). Request the full dataset.