THE ATMOSPHERIC LAYERS

Lecture 02
March. 17th, 2010
THE ATMOSPHERE OF EARTH
| It is a layer of gases surrounding the
planet
l tEEarth
th th
thatt iis retained
t i db by
Earth's gravity.
| The atmosphere protects life on Earth
by absorbing ultraviolet solar
radiation, warming the surface
through heat retention (greenhouse
effect), and reducing temperature
extremes between day and night night.
| Dry air contains roughly (by volume)
y 78% nitrogen,
y 21% oxygen,
yg ,
y 0.93% argon,
y 0.038% carbon dioxide,
y and small amounts of other gases. Air
also contains a variable amount of
water vapor, on average around 1%.
THE ATMOSPHERE OF EARTH
| The atmosphere has a mass of about five
quintillion (5x1018 or
5,000,000,000,000,000,000) kg, three
quarters of which is within about 11 km
(6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface.
| The atmosphere becomes thinner and
thinner with increasing g altitude,, with no
definite boundary between the
atmosphere and outer space.
| An altitude of 120 km (75 mi) is where
atmospheric effects become noticeable
during atmospheric reentry of spacecraft.
The Kármán line, at 100 km (62 mi), also
is often regarded as the boundary
between atmosphere and outer space.
 ATMOSPHERE LAYERS
| The atmosphere is divided into five
layers. It is thickest near the
surface
f and thins out with height
until it eventually merges with
space.
y 1) The troposphere is the first layer
above
b th
the surface
f andd contains
t i h half
lf off
the Earth's atmosphere. Weather
occurs in this layer.
y 2) Many jet aircrafts fly in the
stratosphere because it is very stable.
Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful
rays from the Sun.
y 3) Meteors or rock fragments burn up
in the mesosphere.
y 4) The thermosphere is a layer with
auroras. It is also where the space
shuttle orbits.
y 5) The atmosphere merges into space
in the extremely thin exosphere. This
i the upper
is e limit
li it of our
o atmosphere.
at o he e
EXOSPHERE
| The outermost layer
y of Earth's atmosphere
p
extends from the exobase upward. Here the
particles are so far apart that they can travel
hundreds of km without colliding with one
another. Since the particles rarely collide, the
atmosphere no longer behaves like a fluid. These
f
free-moving
i particles
i l follow
f ll ballistic
b lli i trajectories
j i
and may migrate into and out of the
magnetosphere
g p or the solar wind. The exosphere
p
is mainly composed of hydrogen and helium.
THERMOSPHERE
| Temperature increases with height in the
thermosphere from the mesopause up to the
thermopause, then is constant with height. The
temperature of this layer can rise to 1,500 °C
(2,730 °F), though the gas molecules are so far
apart that temperature in the usual sense is not
well defined. The International Space Station
orbits
bi iin this
hi layer,
l between
b 320 and d 380 km
k
(200 and 240 mi). The top of the thermosphere is
the bottom of the exosphere, called the exobase.
Its height varies with solar activity and ranges
from about 350–800 km (220–500 mi; 1,100,000–
2 600 000 ft).
2,600,000 ft)
| The ionosphere, the part of the atmosphere that
is ionized by solar radiation, stretches from 50 to
1,000 km (31 to 620 mi; 160,000 to 3,300,000 ft)
and typically overlaps both the exosphere and
the thermosphere
thermosphere. It forms the inner edge of the
magnetosphere. It has practical importance
because it influences, for example, radio
propagation on the Earth. It is responsible for
auroras.
MESOSPHERE
| The mesosphere extends from the
stratopause to 80–85 kmk (50–
(
53 mi; 260,000–280,000 ft). It is the
layer where most meteors burn up
upon entering the atmosphere.
Temperature decreases with height
in the mesosphere. The mesopause,
the temperature minimum that
marks
k the
th top
t off the
th mesosphere,
h is
i
the coldest place on Earth and has
an average temperature around
−100 °C ((−148.0 °F;; 173.1 K).
)
STRATOSPHERE
| The stratosphere extends from the tropopause
to about 51 km (32 mi; 170,000
170 000 ft).
ft)
Temperature increases with height, which
restricts turbulence and mixing. The
stratopause, which is the boundary between the
stratosphere and mesosphere, typically is at 50
t 55 km
to k (31 to
t 34 mi;
i 160,000
160 000 to
t 180,000
180 000 ft).
ft)
The pressure here is 1/1000th sea level.
| The ozone layer is contained within the
stratosphere. In this layer ozone concentrations
are about 2 to 8 parts per million
million, which is
much higher than in the lower atmosphere but
still very small compared to the main
components of the atmosphere. It is mainly
located in the lower portion of the stratosphere
from about 15–35
15 35 km (9.3–22
(9 3 22 mi; 49,000–
49 000
110,000 ft), though the thickness varies
seasonally and geographically. About 90% of
the ozone in our atmosphere is contained in the
stratosphere.
TROPOSPHERE
| The troposphere begins at the surface and
extends to between 7 km (23,000
(23 000 ft) at the
poles and 17 km (56,000 ft) at the
equator, with some variation due to
weather.
| Th troposphere
The t h is
i mostly
tl heated
h t db by
transfer of energy from the surface, so on
average the lowest part of the troposphere
is warmest and temperature decreases
with altitude
altitude. This promotes vertical
mixing (hence the origin of its name in
the Greek word "τροπή", trope, meaning
turn or overturn). The troposphere
contains roughly 80% of the mass of the
atmosphere. The tropopause is the
boundary between the troposphere and
stratosphere.
Thank you!