Module 1 Geog 130

 Lecture Notes
 Our atmosphere is the gaseous mass or envelope surrounding the Earth, and
retained by the Earth's gravitational field. Other planets and moons in the Solar
System have atmospheres. The atmosphere plays many important roles in moving
water in the world's ocean basins, and for supporting life on Earth!

Earth's atmosphere is:

• Density stratified - air is compressed and most dense near the surface and
grows increasingly rarefied skyward.
• About 100 kilometers thick between the ocean/land surface and the vacuum of
space.
• Composed mostly of gases, mostly nitrogen (as N2) and oxygen (as O2), and
trace amounts of other gases (including CO2, argon, water vapor); and traces of
liquids and solids in suspension or falling as precipitation: suspended water
(clouds, water droplets and ice crystals), traces of organic compounds, and
suspended particles of dust from a variety of sources.
 Earth’s Atmosphere

 Air is not empty space!

 It’s a mixture of:
 Water vapor
 Suspended molecules- nitrogen,
oxygen and argon
 Small quantities of other gases
 Gasses help to protect from solar
rays and absorb heat

The sky is FULL of molecules, that move

with pressure, temperature and density changes

Flows like a liquid!

Structure of the Atmosphere
The Earth's atmosphere is subdivided into levels (Figure 5-2):
Fig. 5-2. Structure of
Earth's atmosphere.

* The troposphere is the lowest portion (up to about 6-8 miles [10-13 km]) where all weather
takes place and contains about 80% of the air's mass and 99% of water vapor.

* The overlying stratosphere contains an abundance of ozone which absorbs ultraviolet

radiation, protecting life on land and in the shallow ocean extends up to about 31 miles (50
km).

*The mesosphere is the part of the earth's upper atmosphere above the stratosphere in which
temperature decreases with altitude to the atmosphere's absolute minimum.

* The thermosphere the region of the atmosphere above the mesosphere and below the
height at which the atmosphere ceases to have the properties of a continuous medium (about
60 miles [100 km]). The thermosphere is characterized throughout by an increase in
temperature with height, where the charged atomic particles of the solar wind begins to
interact with atmospheric gases.
Energy Transfer Through the Atmosphere
The amount of energy coming into the Earth from the Sun is equal to the energy
reflected and radiated back into space. The atmosphere, oceans, and land absorb
and release energy. Living things also absorb and release energy. Some of the
energy stored in organic matter is preserved when it is buried in sediments.
Geothermal energy is also a trace of the energy radiated into space. The rate of
energy transfer also varies due to cloud cover and ice and snow coverage.

Incoming solar radiation involves all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Figure 5-3 shows the wavelengths and intensity of solar energy striking the top of the
atmosphere and the energy reaching the surface. The atmosphere is transparent to
most wavelengths, but part of the solar spectrum are absorbed by certain
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere including water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone,
methane, and other gases. Shorter wavelengths (UV and blue light) is diffused in the
air—making the sky blue. Longer wavelengths are less diffused—making sunsets
and sunrises red (Figure 5-4).

Energy that is not reflected back into space is radiated back into space in
wavelengths longer than visible light (mostly in the thermal infrared portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum).
Air is mostly molecules
of Nitrogen and Oxygen
4 Layers of the atmosphere

 1st layer-Troposphere
 Weather layer
 Surface air, heated by
surface absorbing suns
energy

 Earth surface absorbs

energy and heats
troposphere
 Temperature decreases
with height- This is the
environmental lapse rate
 Caped by the tropopause
 2nd- Stratosphere
 Highest amount of ozone
 Ozone absorbs ultraviolet
light
 This heats up the
stratosphere
 temp increases with
altitude
 Caped by Stratopause
 3rd- Mesosphere
 Temperature decreases with
altitude
 Caped by mesopause

Meteorites burn up in this layer

2012 Red Bull

Highest freefall jump in history
from 128,000ft
4th Layer- Thermosphere
• Space shuttle orbit
• Aurora takes place here
• Temperature increases with
altitude
Thermosphere is where the
Aurora take place

 For thousands of years, people have marveled at the

Aurora Borealis, but it wasn't until the early twentieth
century that science was able to provide an
explanation for what was really happening
Northern and Southern Lights
 Aurora Borealis Latin for “Dawn of the
North” and Aurora Australia named by
Galileo

 The first person to accurately explain the

Aurora Borealis was a Norweigan scientist
named Kristian Birkeland in 1900
 What causes them?
 Center of earth has magnetic molten iron
under extreme pressure
 This creates a magnetic “Field” around the
earth called the Magnetosphere
 This energy field actually protects us from
getting too much energy from the sun
 Solar wind hits the Magnetosphere

Photons from the sun

enter where this shield is
weakest at the north and
south poles.

When they hit Oxygen and

Nitrogen, they excite these
atoms and cause them to
glow or Fluoresce
 Glowing Gas
 Oxygen
 Glows Green up
to 150miles above
the earth and
glows red in the
upper
Thermosphere

 Nitrogen
 Glows Blue up to
60miles high
 Air is like a Sponge
Air holds water like a sponge

In order to get the water out of the sponge - squeeze it!

In order to get the water out of the air (Rain)- Lower the
temperature! Or Lift the Air higher in Altitude

Lifting the air will cool it “squeezing the sponge” by

condense the water vapor floating in the air into liquid
droplets that fall as rain
Bill Nye Demonstration of Cloud Formation
http://youtu.be/QeAp3CuGjk8
Memory Tool

Air rises
cools
condenses
forms clouds
 Air is made of molecules

These molecules have weight, which we feel as “Air Pressure”,

move the molecules and change the pressure of the air
 We measure air pressure
Using a barometer

“Barometric pressure”

Air
has
weight

Measures the weight of the air above

Ted Talk Barometer https://youtu.be/EkDhlzA-lwI
Atmospheric Pressure
Air pressure is less at higher altitude

Air expands
as it rises

(Because it decreases
In pressure)

Air pressure is greatest

At the surface
Chips experiment
 Take a bag of chips at sea level to the mountains and
see the expansion of the air inside the bag

Air pressure decreases

With altitude
So the chip bag
expands
A barometer is an instrument measuring atmospheric pressure, used especially in
forecasting the weather and determining altitude
Air pressure on the planet is directly related to the mass of the air column above at
any location under the influence of gravity: Pressure = Force/Area.

Atmospheric air pressure is reported as average air pressure measured at standard

sea level. Reported barometric air pressure at elevations above sea level are
adjusted to be equivalent to air pressure measured at sea level at locations closest
to where measurements are taken.
How Air Pressure Is Reported
Barometric units most used to describe atmospheric pressure includes atmospheres,
millibars, and PSI (pound-per-square-inch).

The weight of ONE ATMOSPHERE (Earth's atmosphere above us) is equal to the
weight of the Earth's average air pressure at standard sea level.
One atmosphere (on Earth, on average) is equivalent to:
• 14.7 pounds-per-square-inch (psi) - this might mean something when you add air to
you car's tires.
• 29.92 inches of mercury (a historic measure of air pressure that is still widely used).
• 406.8 inches of water (33.9 feet) - how deep you'd need to dive in a freshwater lake
to double the weight of the atmosphere.
• seawater (33.4 feet) - seawater is slightly denser than freshwater.
• 1.01325 bars (one bar was supposed to be equivalent to the weight of one average
Earth atmosphere; the slight number above 1.0000 bars is from adjustments from
atmospheric-pressured data that was later compiled from locations measured
around the world. It was determined that the average weight of the Earth's
atmosphere was slightly higher than the standard one bar was originally established
between the year's 1793 and 1795 by the European science community as an
attempt to add an air pressure standard to metric system. When analytical devices
are calibrated, they use the revised metric unit: millibars.

The average weight of one Earth atmosphere is now commonly reported as 1013.25
millibars (mb).
 Atmospheric Pressure Drops With Increasing Altitude (Elevation)
Elevation and air pressure have an inverse relationship - air pressure decreases with
increasing elevation
At an elevation of about 18,000 feet you would be above about half of the
atmosphere. That, of course, depends on changing weather conditions! An common
altimeter is a type of barometer that measures air pressure to report elevation, but
altimeters must be adjusted to match local weather conditions.
What is the difference between altitude and elevation?
If you are flying an airplane, you need to know this! Technically, altitude is the vertical
distance from the Earth surface (land or water) to an object (such as an airplane).
Elevation is a the vertical distance between a location on the ground and global sea
level.
Air pressure with altitude
Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude on a curve.
Can you feel changes in Atmospheric Pressure?
The answer is a most definite yes! As you go up in elevation, air pressure trapped
within your ears is not equalized with the air pressure outside, so your ears tend to
occasionally pop as you climb in altitude, as your ear ducts release air when you
swallow. Older people commonly complain about bone and joint pain when a storm
is approaching and air pressure starts falling.

The opposite is true when you go down in elevation, such as on an airplane

descending from high altitude. Anyone who has frequently flown can tell you about
crying children complaining ear aches because their ears have not readjusted to air
pressures at low elevations.
Lifting air expands and cools it down

Expanding gases cools

Air that is rising cools down

Contracting gases warms

Air that is falling is heating

Pressure decreases with altitude

Dry air expands & cools

Standard sea level barometric pressure

29.92in of Hg or 14psi or 1013.2mb
 This effect is predictable
The Relationship between 10ºC for every 1000m- Dry
adiabatic lapse rate
temperature and altitude is
called the Adiabatic Principle

 In the troposphere, as you

climb in Dry air, the
temperature is reduced by 10
degrees for each 1,000m you
ascend!

 If the air is fully saturated,

its only half that at
5ºC/1000m
 IT IS THE CHANGE IN PRESSURE, NOT THE FLOW OF AIR,
THAT MAKES EXPANDING AIR COOL AND COMPRESSED AIR HOT!

When you pump air into a

bicycle tire-
the pump will get hot as
you increase the pressure:
this is like air that is falling
and heating up
 When water changes state, its also
an energy transfer
 Energy is absorbed or liberated as it
changes state bteween:
 Solid – the most ordered, least
energy state
 Liquid – higher energy and less order
 Gas – most energetic and least
ordered (most free)
 The amount of heat per gram
absorbed or released is known as
latent heat

Absorb energy = frosty get warmer, while environment cools down

Release energy = frosty get colder, while environment heats up
 Water transfers heat energy
Cause: Solar energy strikes the ocean water
Effect: Evaporation occurs- 2,000 J of Energy
are absorbed (environment cools)

Cause: Clouds form as air rises in the

atmosphere
Effect: Vapor turns to water and condenses
2,000 J of energy are released (heating the
environment)

The daily imbalance of heat causes a endless

transfer of energy as water cycles around
So why does fog form?
- Warm humid air moves across the cool pond water

- Heat from the air is absorbed into the cooler pond

- Water vapor condenses and exchanges energy from air to the

pond and form fog

Clouds can form at

any altitude
 Humidity
Measuring water in the air
 Humidity = amount of water vapor in the air

 Relative Humidity is not a good measure of how humid it feels

 Dew point is MUCH more accurate in measuring how humid the

air feels
 Measurements of how much
vapor the air can hold
 Dew point is an
 Relative Humidity is a Absolute measure of
percentage of how much much vapor is in the air
vapor is in the air versus right now
how much it CAN hold
Pressure Cells
When land heats up from
absorbing solar energy air rises
above LIFTING the air

 Land Heats up faster than

water

 Land Cools down faster than

water

This will lead to circular winds

called “cells” over the low
pressure
 Powerful imbalance of air
pressure = wind

Here is footage from a recent Typhoon (Hurricane)

https://youtu.be/cm04D_YlOPE
 CYCLONES & ANTICYCLONES
 Low pressure = Rising air = cyclones
 Associated with cloudy rainy weather: Air spiral inward and
upward

 High pressure = Falling air = anticyclone

 Associated with fair/dry weather: Air spiral outward and
downward

 The Coriolis effect influences air flows because the earth is spinning
 North of the equator
 Winds Curve to the right
 South of the equator
 Winds Curve to the Left

http://youtu.be/i2mec3vgeaI
North of the
equator
Winds Curve
to the right

South of the
equator
Winds Curve
to the Left
 As air rises it expands
As air expands it cools (LOW
Pressure Cell)
As air falls it compresses
As air compresses it heats up
(HIGH pressure Cell)

Wind is the balance of moving low

pressure and
high pressure moving air

Wind will ALWAYS go from High to Low

pressure
WIND IS PRESSURE BEING BALANCED

Wind moves from Anticyclones (High) to Cyclones (Low). Northern Hemisphere