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Atmospheric Basics. Atmosphere Basics. Air is a combination of many gases, each with its own unique characteristics. About 99% of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and oxygen.
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Atmospheric Basics Atmosphere Basics • Air is a combination of many gases, each with its own unique characteristics. • About 99% of the atmosphere is composed of nitrogen and oxygen. • The remaining one percent consisting of small amounts of argon, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases.
Atmosphere The surrounding air of the Earth
Composition of Air • There are many different types of gasses in the atmosphere • They include nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and other noble gasses • The gas that is most abundant is nitrogen
Atmospheric Basics Structure of the Atmosphere • The atmosphere is made up of several different layers. • Each layer differs in composition and temperature.
Layers of the atmosphere • There are 4 layers in the atmosphere • They are the troposphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and stratosphere
Troposphere • This is the layer that is closest to the surface of the earth • It’s elevation ranges from 0 to 10 km
Atmospheric Basics Atmospheric Composition Lower Atmospheric Layers • The troposphere, the layer closest to Earth’s surface, contains most of the mass of the atmosphere, including water vapor. • Most weather takes place in and most air pollution collects in the troposphere.
Stratosphere • This layer sits on top of the troposphere • It’s elevation ranges from 10 km to around 25 km • This layer contains the ozone layer, which protects us from harmful sunlight
Atmospheric Basics Atmospheric Composition Lower Atmospheric Layers • The stratosphere, is where most ozone is located. • Its referred to as stratospheric ozone. • Planes like to fly here because there is less moisture so less clouds so less weather to jostle the planes.
Mesosphere • This layer is above the stratosphere • It’s elevation ranges from 25 to 100 km
Thermosphere • This is the highest layer of the atmosphere • It’s height ranges from 100 to 400 km • This is where most small meteorites burn up and is also the location in the atmosphere that the northern lights occur (aurora borealis)
Atmospheric Basics Atmospheric Composition Upper Atmospheric Layers • The mesosphere is the coldest layer of the atmosphere. It has very strong winds. This is where you would see meteors shooting through. • The thermosphere is the farthest layer from the surface and it contains a very small part of the atmosphere’s mass. • This is the hottest layer because it is closer to the sun and it absorbs the heat from it.
Atmospheric Basics Atmospheric Composition • The thermosphere is divided into two parts. • The ionosphere is important for radio communications because it bounces waves back to earth. This is also where the aurora bolealis occurs. • The exosphere, which is composed of light gases such as helium and hydrogen, so satellites can travel here very easily • Molecules are actually traveling so fast that some are able to escape from earth’s gravity. • There is no clear boundary between the atmosphere and space.
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