Layers and density

Topic: weather

Layers and density

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/atmospheric/weather3.htmhttp://www.obspm.fr/actual/

nouvelle/nov05/titan.en.shtml

Topic: weather

Bolide falling to earth

Topic: weather

Lake effect snow over the Great Lakes

Topic: weather

Topic: WeatherI. The atmosphere

• A. The atmosphere is the ocean of gases, held in by gravity, that surrounds our planet. It is a mixture of gases.– Page 14 ESRT has a graph of the

characteristics that change with altitude.

– Page 1 shows us that the lowest level, called the troposphere, is primarily nitrogen and oxygen.

– Water vapor is found ALMOST only in the troposphere, which is where ‘weather’ occurs.

Topic: weather

• B. Using p. 14 of the ESRT, notice the following:– the atmosphere is divided according

to the way in which termperature changes with altitude.

– Atmospheric pressure steadily decreases with altitude. The greatest pressure is at sea level, due to the weight of overlying molecules.

– Water vapor concentrations are greatest at sea level, and almost nonexistent above the tropopause.

Topic: weather

• C. The levels of the atmosphere.– The troposphere has the greatest concentration of water

vapor and the greatest pressure.– The stratosphere contains ozone, which absorbs ultraviolet

(uv) rays, causing it to warm with increases in altitude.– Ozone is a form of oxygen, O3 very different than

breathable oxygen,O2. – ultraviolet light is a form of very powerful electromagnetic

energy.

Topic: weather

D. Practice– What is the temperature range of each of the layers?– What is the altitude of the tropopause?– In what layer is the air pressure about 0.2 atm?– What is the pressure at sea level?– What is the temperature at a height of 25 miles?– What level controls incoming ultraviolet light?

Topic: weather

Topic: weather

Classzone.com for weather for the atmosphere go to:http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/investigations/es1702/es1702page01.cfm https://castlelearning.com/review/login/login.aspx for atmosphere questions