Composition and structure of earth's atmosphere
- 1. Composition and Structure of Earth’s Atmosphere
- 2. What we are going to study in this chapter? Atmosphere Compositio n Structure • Gases • Water Vapour • Dust Particles • Troposphere • Stratosphere • Mesosphere • Thermosphere • Exosphere
- 3. • Atmosphere is the air surrounding the earth. • The atmosphere is a mixture of different gases. • It contains life-giving gases like Oxygen for humans and animals and carbon dioxide for plants. • It envelops the earth all round and is held in place by the gravity of the earth. • It helps in stopping the ultraviolet rays harmful to the life and maintains the suitable temperature necessary for life. • Generally, atmosphere extends up to about 1600 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. Atmosphere
- 4. Gases • The atmosphere is a mixture of different types of gases. • Nitrogen and oxygen are the two main gases in the atmosphere and 99 percentage of the atmosphere is made up of these two gases. • Other gases like argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, hydrogen, etc. form the remaining part of the atmosphere. • The portion of the gases changes in the higher layers of the atmosphere in such a way that oxygen will be almost negligible quantity at the heights of 120 km. • Similarly, carbon dioxide (and water vapour) is found only up to 90 km from the surface of the earth.
- 5. Carbon Dioxide • Carbon dioxide is meteorologically a very important gas. • It is transparent to the incoming solar radiation (insolation) but opaque to the outgoing terrestrial radiation. • It absorbs a part of terrestrial radiation and reflects back some part of it towards the earth’s surface. • Carbon dioxide is largely responsible for the greenhouse effect. • When the volume of other gases remains constant in the atmosphere, the volume of the carbon dioxide has been rising in the past few decades mainly because of the burning of fossil fuels. This rising volume of carbon dioxide is the main reason for global warming.
- 6. Water Vapour Variable gas in the atmosphere, which decreases with altitude. In the warm and wet tropics, it may account for four per cent of the air by volume, while in the dry and cold areas of desert and polar regions, it may be less than one per cent of the air. Water vapour also decreases from the equator towards the poles.
- 7. • Absorbs part of the insolation from the sun and preserves the earth's radiated heat. • Acts like a blanket allowing the earth neither to become too cold nor too hot. • It contributes to the stability and instability in the air.
- 8. Dust Particles • Dust particles are generally found in the lower layers of the atmosphere. • These particles are found in the form of sand, smoke-soot, oceanic salt, ash, pollen, etc. • Higher concentration of dust particles is found in subtropical and temperate regions due to dry winds in comparison to equatorial and polar regions. • These dust particles help in the condensation of water vapour. • During the condensation, water vapour gets condensed in the form of droplets around these dust particles and thus clouds are formed
- 10. Troposphere • The troposphere is the area that goes from the surface of the earth to a height of 7.5 miles. • This contains most of the clouds, weather, airplanes, and air currents in the earth's atmosphere. • The exact height of the troposphere depends on where you are on the earth, and the exact weather conditions at that moment. • It contains around 80% of the mass of the atmosphere.
- 11. Stratosphere • Above the troposphere lies the stratosphere which extends from the top of the troposphere to about 50 km (31 miles) above the ground. • The ozone layer lies within the stratosphere. • Ozone molecules in this layer absorb high- energy ultraviolet (UV) light from the Sun and convert it into heat. • Because of this, unlike the troposphere, the stratosphere gets warmer the higher you go!
- 12. Mesosphere • The mesosphere lies above the stratosphere, which extends up to a height of 80 km. • In this layer, once again, temperature starts decreasing with the increase in altitude and reaches up to minus 100° C at the height of 80 km. • The upper limit of mesosphere is known as the mesopause.
- 13. Thermosphere Thermosphere constitutes a layer of sphere called ionosphere. • The ionosphere is located between 80 and 400 km above the mesopause. • It contains electrically charged particles known as ions, and hence, it is known as ionosphere. • Radio waves transmitted from the earth are reflected back to the earth by this layer.
- 14. Exosphere • Temperature here starts increasing with height. • The uppermost layer of the atmosphere above the thermosphere is known as the exosphere. • This is the highest layer but very little is known about it. • Whatever contents are there, these are extremely rarefied in this layer, and it gradually merges with the outer space. • Although all layers of the atmosphere must be exercising influence on us, geographers are concerned with the first two layers of the atmosphere.
- 15. Elements of Weather and Climate • Temperature • Atmospheric Pressure • Humidity • Wind • Precipitation • Cloudiness
- 16. What would happen if the Earth’s Atmosphere disappeared?