Equivalent potential temperature, commonly referred to as theta-e , is a quantity that is conserved during changes to an air parcel's pressure (that is, during vertical motions in the atmosphere), even if water vapor condenses during that pressure change. It is therefore more conserved than the ordinary potential temperature, which remains constant only for unsaturated vertical motions (pressure changes).
is the temperature a parcel of air would reach if all the water vapor in the parcel were to condense, releasing its latent heat, and the parcel was brought adiabatically to a standard reference pressure, usually 1000 hPa (1000 mbar) which is roughly equal to atmospheric pressure at sea level.
