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Atmosphere

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24 views

Atmosphere

Fhj

Uploaded by

tharunshreeram13
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE; PHYSICAL LAYERING AND

COMPOSITIONAL LAYERING
Atmosphere
The air surrounding the Earth is called the atmosphere. It is a mixture of different
gases that sustains life on earth. The atmosphere is an integral part of our Earth. It is
connected with the earth due to the gravitational force of the earth. It helps in stopping the
ultra violet rays harmful for the life and maintain the suitable temperature necessary for
life. Generally, atmosphere extends up to about 480 km from the earth’s surface. However,
99 % of the total mass of the atmosphere is confined to the height of 32 km from the earth’s
surface. With increasing altitude, the air pressure decreases.
Composition of atmosphere
The atmosphere is a mixture of many gases. In addition, it contains huge numbers of
solid and liquid particles, collectively called ‘aerosols’. Some of the gases may be regarded
as permanent atmospheric components which remain in fixed proportion to the total gas
volume. Other constituents vary in quantity from place to place and from time to time. If the
suspended particles, water vapour and other variable gases were excluded from the
atmosphere, then the dry air is very stable all over the earth up to an altitude of about 80
kilometres. The proportion of gases changes in the higher layers of the atmosphere in such a
way that oxygen will be almost in negligible quantity at the height of 120 km. Similarly,
carbon dioxide and water vapour are found only up to 90 km from the surface of the earth.
Nitrogen and oxygen make up nearly 99% of the clean, dry air. The remaining gases are
mostly inert and constitute about 1% of the atmosphere. Besides these gases, large
quantities of water vapour and dust particles are also present in the atmosphere.
The details of different gases of the atmosphere are given in the table below.

Structure of the Atmosphere


The atmosphere is divided into five different layers depending upon the temperature
conditions – troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.
1. Troposphere
 It is the lowermost layer of the atmosphere.
 The average height of the troposphere is 13 km; its height is about 8 km near the
poles and about 18 km at the equator. At the equator, its thickness is greatest
because heat is transported to great heights by strong convection currents.
 All the climatic and weather changes take place in this layer of the atmosphere.
 The temperature decreases with the increase in height; for every 165 m of height,
the temperature decreases by 1℃ (normal lapse rate).
 Tropopause is a zone that separates the troposphere from the stratosphere. The
temperature in this zone is nearly constant (-80℃ over the equator and about -
45℃ over the poles) and hence, it is called the tropopause.
2. Stratosphere
 It is the second layer of the atmosphere, just above the troposphere and extends up
to a height of 50 km.
 This layer of the atmosphere contains the ozone layer which absorbs ultraviolet
radiation from the sun and protects life from harmful forms of energy. The UV
radiations absorbed by the ozone layer gets converted into heat, that is why the
stratosphere gets warmer with increasing altitude (unlike the troposphere).
 Weather-related phenomena are absent in this layer of the atmosphere, that is why
aeroplanes fly in the stratosphere for a smooth ride.
 Stratopause separates the stratosphere and mesosphere.

3. Mesosphere
 Mesosphere is the third layer of the atmosphere which extends up to a height of 80
km.
 In this layer, temperature decreases with increasing altitude and drops down to
minus 100℃ at the height of 80 km.
 Meteorites burn in this layer on entering the atmosphere from outer space.
 Its upper limit is mesopause which separates the mesosphere and thermosphere.

4. Thermosphere
 The ionosphere lies within the thermosphere. It is located between 80 and 400 km
above the mesosphere and contains electrically charged particles called ions, hence
the name ionosphere.
 In this layer of the atmosphere, temperature increases with increasing height.
 Radio Waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer.
 Satellites orbit in the upper part of the thermosphere.

5. Exosphere
 Uppermost layer of the atmosphere above the thermosphere is called the
exosphere.
 This layer gradually merges with outer space.

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