  The dynamic state index (DSI) is a scalar field that combines variational
information on the total energy and enstrophy of a flow field with the second
law of thermodynamics. Its magnitude is a combined local measure for
non-stationarity, diabaticity, and dissipation in the flow, and it has been
shown to provide good qualitative indications for the onset and presence of
precipitation and the organization of storms. The index has been derived thus
far for ideal fluid models only, however, so that one may expect more detailed
insights from a revised definition of the quantity that includes more complex
aerothermodynamics. The present paper suggests definitions of DSI-like
indicators for flows of moist air with phase changes and precipitation. In this
way, the DSI is generalized to signal deviations from a variety of different
types of balanced states. A comparison of these indices evaluated with respect
to one and the same flow field enables the user to test whether the flow
internally balances any combination of the physical processes encoded in the
generalized DSI-indices.
