1 / 30

Understanding Our Atmosphere: Composition, Layers, and Processes

Explore the composition, layers, and processes of Earth's atmosphere, including the importance of gases, water vapor, and the greenhouse effect. Learn about different types of clouds, the formation of precipitation, and the Earth-Sun relationship. Discover key concepts such as humidity, air pressure, and atmospheric lifting mechanisms.

huerta
Download Presentation

Understanding Our Atmosphere: Composition, Layers, and Processes

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. OUR ATMOSPHEREThe thin layer of gases that surrounds our planet and is held in place by gravity.

  2. Composition • A mixture of • Gases • Dust • Water vapor • Changes according to altitude and location.

  3. Ozone (O3) –a very raretype of molecule that combines 3 atoms of oxygen • Thin layer is found in the Stratosphere • Protects living things from harmful UV sun rays • Man made chemicals destroy ozone.

  4. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) • A naturally occurring gas in our atmosphere. • Needed for photosynthesis to occur during the Carbon Cycle. • Produced as waste during cellular respiration.

  5. Water Vapor - water in the atmosphere • The key to understanding atmosphere processes • The source of all precipitation • Examples • Clouds • Fog • Rain • Snow • Sleet • Hail

  6. Changing states of matter • Changing matter requires energy, and is transferred in the form of heat • Latent heat – heat that is used which doesn’t cause temperature change

  7. How does water change state in the atmosphere?

  8. The Greenhouse Effect

  9. The atmosphere is divided into 4 main layers by temperature • Troposphere (bottom layer) • Stratosphere (where important weather occur) • Mesosphere • Thermosphere (top layer) • It generally gets colder as altitude increases • Layers of the atmosphere are divided by temperature and height

  10. Layers of the atmosphere

  11. Earth-Sun Relationship • Almost all energy that causes Earth’s weather and climate comes from the sun. • Unequal heating of the Earth causes weather.

  12. Heat transfer • Conduction – transferof heat via molecular activity (high to low) • Convection – transfer of heat by movement or circulation within a fluid • Radiation – transfer of heat in all directions

  13. Solar radiation • Energy is absorbed by the object. • Energy is transmitted • Energy is reflected or bounced off the object.

  14. Humidity – the amount of water vapor in the air • Relative humidity – the amount of water in the atmosphere. A percentage of how much water the air can hold.

  15. Cloud Formation • As air rises in the atmosphere it expands and cools • When air reaches it’s dew point, clouds begin to form

  16. Air compression • When air pressure decreases, air expands and temperature cools • Motion of the gas molecules slows • When air pressure increases, air temperature rises • Motion of the gas molecules increases

  17. Orographic Lifting • when air is forced to rise and cool due to terrain features such as hills or mountains

  18. Frontal Wedging • When cold dense air acts as a barrier and causes warmer, less dense air to rise

  19. Convergence • When air masses flow together from more than 1 direction, air rises. Low pressure is the result

  20. Localized convective heating • Unequal heating of Earth’s surface causes pockets of air to be warmed more than surrounding air • Causes pockets of air to rise, forming thermals

  21. Clouds – 3 basic types are classified on form and height Cirrus Cumulus Stratus

  22. High Clouds • cirrus • cirrostratus • cirrocumulus • Thin and white • Low precipitation • May warn of approaching stormy weather cirrocumulus

  23. Middle Clouds - alto • Altocumulus – large and dense • Altostratus – white or gray sheet covering sky • Cumulonimbus - • Infrequent light snow or drizzle altocumulus

  24. Low clouds • Stratus – fog like layer covering sky - Occasionally produce light precipitation • Stratocumulus – rainy clouds • Nimbostratus – main precipitation maker • Cumulus - clouds with vertical development Stratocumulus

  25. Fog – cloud with base at or near the ground • Form by • Cooling – air over a cold surface • Evaporation – when cool air moves over warm water (steaming)

  26. How precipitation forms • Tiny cloud droplets grow in volume by about 1,000,000 times.

  27. Cold cloud precipitation • Ice crystals contact with cloud droplets causing them to freeze • Causes ice to grow into snowflakes • Rain often begins as snow high in the clouds

  28. Warm cloud precipitation • Largedroplets moving through the clouds collide and join (coalesce) with smaller droplets

  29. The type of precipitation that reaches Earth’s surface depends on temperature in the lower atmosphere • Rain • Snow • Sleet • Glaze • Hail

  30. Atmosphere key ideas Earth’s atmosphere is made up of a combination of gases. The major components of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon remain constant over time and space, while trace components like CO2 and water vapor vary considerably over both space and time. The atmosphere is divided into the thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere boundaries between these layers are defined by changes in temperatureand height Pressure decreases exponentially with altitude in the atmosphere. Our knowledge about the atmosphere has developed based on data from a variety of sources, including direct measurements from balloons and aircraft as well as remote measurements from satellites.

More Related