Original NUCAPS vs Experimental NUCAPS in Dodge City, KS Area

A NUCAPS pass over the Dodge City, KS area occurred around 18 UTC on June 22, 2017. Here is a sounding from this region.

The experimental NUCAPS came into AWIPS about 30 minutes after the original data. Here is the sounding from the same location.

The original profile had limited CAPE, around 500 J/KG.  The experimental profile had much more when the surface observations were included. The CAPE value was around 3,300 J/KG. This value was much more comparable to what was seen on the SPC mesoanalysis in the Dodge City region.

One other quick note: The Baseline Derived CAPE at the same time as the NUCAPS pass was also much lower than the CAPE derived from the experimental sounding.

It appears the reason why the original NUCAPS sounding was more stable was because the surface dew point was in the mid 50s where as actual obs and the experimental sounding had dew points in the mid 60s.

Lastly, I noted there was a gap in the experimental data points with this pass, that was not seen in the original NUCAPS.

Experimental 

Original

-Ironman