Lapse rate

The lapse rate is the rate at which an atmospheric variable, normally temperature in Earth's atmosphere, changes with altitude. Lapse rate arises from the word lapse, in the sense of a gradual change.It corresponds to the vertical component of the spatial gradient of temperature.Although this concept is most often applied to the Earth's troposphere, it can be extended to any gravitationally supported parcel of gas. The lapse rate is the rate at which an atmospheric variable, normally temperature in Earth's atmosphere, changes with altitude. Lapse rate arises from the word lapse, in the sense of a gradual change.It corresponds to the vertical component of the spatial gradient of temperature.Although this concept is most often applied to the Earth's troposphere, it can be extended to any gravitationally supported parcel of gas. A formal definition from the Glossary of Meteorology is: