Download Meteorology

METEOROLOGY
What is the Atmosphere?
• Mixture of gases that surround the Earth.
• Composition
• 78% Nitrogen
• 21% Oxygen
• 1%: other argon, carbon dioxide
• What is the purpose of the atmosphere?
• Makes conditions suitable for us to live
• Protects us from space
What is the Atmosphere: continued
• Why is it Important?
• Stores Oxygen
• Keeps us warm: Greenhouse effect
• Protects us from sun’s radiation, cold of space,
meteoroids
Air Pressure
• Does air have mass?
• How could you prove/demonstrate that air has mass?
• Measure of force with which air molecules push
on a surface
• Air pushes in all directions
• Gases will fill the volume of space they are contained
• Density of air effects the amount of pressure,
why?
• How is pressure measured?
Altitude and Air pressure
• Altitude = Elevation
• Air pressure decreases as altitude
increases
• Air pressure decreases, density decreases
Layers of Atmosphere
• 4 main layers
• Troposphere
• Stratosphere
• Mesosphere
• Thermosphere
Troposphere
• Tropo = Change
• Layer in which we live
• Weather occurs here
• What is the difference between weather and climate?
• Majority of mass of atmosphere
• Altitude increases, temperature decreases
• Top temp. = -60 degrees Celsius
• 0 to 12 km
Stratosphere
• Contains the Ozone
• What is ozone?
• 3 oxygen molecules bonded together
• Top of Stratosphere is warm, but bottom is
cold, Why?
• Ozone absorbs Suns radiation
• Ranges from 12km to 50 in elevation
Mesosphere
• Layer protects us from meteoroids and
space junk
• Meteoroids burn up = Shooting stars
Thermosphere
• Divided into 2 layers
• Exosphere
• Ionosphere
• Outermost layer of atmosphere
• Temp can reach up to 1,800°C
• Suns radiation strikes this layer first
• Thermometer would read 0°C, Why?
• Density and distance between molecules. Molecules have a lot of
energy but there isn’t a lot of molecules and they are spread out
• Temperature = Average amount of energy of motion of
each particle
Thermosphere: Ionosphere
• Sun’s energy innervates gas molecules to
become electrically charged Ions
• We see this as Auroa Borealis: Northern Lights
• Layers reflects back radio waves
Thermosphere: Exosphere
• 400 km and beyond
• Layer in which satellites orbit Earth