Overview of the

Earth’s Atmosphere
• The atmosphere, when scaled to the size of an 
apple, is no thicker than the skin on an apple.

• The atmosphere is a gas.

• The atmosphere is a fluid.

• There is a surface but no “top” – the atmosphere 
   gradually thins out with increasing altitude
 Earth's Atmosphere

Thin Gaseous envelope

99% of atmospheric gases, including water vapor, extend only 30 
kilometer (km) above earth's surface.

 Most of our weather, however, occurs within the first 10 to 15 km.
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 permanent gases
• roles of nitrogen, oxygen and argon
 variable gases
• role of water vapor
 trace gases
• carbon dioxide, methane, ozone, CFCs, et al.
 aerosols
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 The “dry atmosphere”: 78% N2, 21% O2, 1% Ar
• N2 is primordial – it’s been part of the
atmosphere as long as there’s been an
atmosphere
• O2 has been rising from none at all about 2.2
Gya – comes from photosynthesis
• Ar40/Ar36 tells us that the atmosphere has been
outgassed from volcanoes
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 Water Vapor: H2O 0-4%
• H20 can exist in all three phases at the surface of the
Earth – solid, liquid and gas
• Liquid or solid H2O can be suspended by atmospheric
winds (clouds) or fall to the surface (precipitation)
• VERY powerful greenhouse gas (both in vapor form
and as clouds)
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 The Hydrological Cycle
Table 1-1, p. 3
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 Carbon dioxide
• 390 ppm (by mass) and counting…
• Natural and anthropogenic sources/sinks
• Strong greenhouse gas (GHG)

CO2 is neither the strongest atmospheric GHG pound-for-pound

nor molecule-for-molecule…
Why the fuss?
CO2 is a product of the reaction that allows modern civilization to
exist: combustion.
Fig. 1-4, p. 5
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 The Global Carbon Cycle
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 Methane
• CH4 concentration: 1.8 ppmv
• anthropogenic and natural sources/sinks too
• powerful greenhouse gas
• oxidizes rapidly, hence low concentrations
• Large concentrations proposed to explain
greenhouse warming of early Earth
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 Ozone, CFCs and NOx
 Ozone (O3)
• shields the surface from UV rays
• produced by reaction with NOx and sunlight near the surface
 CFC’s (Chlorofluorocarbons)
• destroy stratospheric ozone

• chlorine is a catalyst: it destroys one O 3 molecule and then is

free to find another

• Ozone at high altitudes (stratosphere) is “good”;
ozone at low altitudes (troposphere) is “bad.”
 Atmospheric Gases
Nitrogen, oxygen, 
argon, water vapor, 
carbon dioxide, and 
most other gases are 
invisible.

 Clouds are not gas, 
but condensed vapor 
in the form of liquid 
droplets.

 Ground based smog, 
which is visible, 
Ozone – is the primary ingredient of smog! contains reactants of 
nitrogen and ozone.
 Aerosols & Pollutants

Human and 
natural activities 
displace tiny soil, 
salt, and ash 
particles as 
suspended 
aerosols, 
as well as sulfur 
and nitrogen 
oxides, and 
hydrocarbons as 
pollutants.
 Composition of the
Atmosphere
 Aerosols
• Dust
• Sea-spray
• Microbes

Suspended particles in the atmosphere are

responsible for cloud formation: water drops
nucleate on them
Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN)
 Other Atmospheres
YES NO
Earth The Moon
Mars all the other satellites
Venus Mercury
Jupiter asteroids
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Triton (Neptune’s moon)
Titan (Saturn’s moon)
The Sun
 Other Atmospheres
Planet Composition Temperature Pressure

Venus CO2 96.5%, N2 750 K 90000 mb

3.5%

Earth N2 78%, O2 21%, 290K 1000 mb

Ar 1%

Mars CO2 95%, N2 2.7%, 220K 10 mb

Ar 1.6%
 History of Meteorology
 Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and its
phenomena
 Aristotle wrote a book on natural philosophy (340 BC)
entitled “Meteorologica”
 Sum knowledge of weather/climate at time
 Meteors were all things that fell from the sky or
were seen in the air
 “meteoros” : Greek word meaning “high in air”
 History of Meteorology
 Invention of weather
instruments
 1500’s Galileo invented water
thermometer
 1643 Torricelli invented
mercury barometer
 1667 Hooke invented
anemometer
 1719 Fahrenheit developed
temp scale based on
boiling/freezing water
 1735 Hadley explained how
the earth’s rotation influences
winds in tropics
 1742 Celsius developed the
centigrade temp scale
 History of Meteorology
 1787 Charles discovered
relationship between temp and
a volume of air
 1835 Coriolis used math to
demonstrate the effect that the
earth’s rotation has on atmos.
Motions
 1869 first isobars were placed
on map
 1920 concepts of air masses and
weather fronts were formulated
in Norway
 1940’s upper air ballons/3-D
view of atmos
 1950’s high speed computers
 1960 Tiros 1 first weather
satellite
Vertical Structure of
the Earth’s
Atmosphere
Atmospheric Layers

8 layers are defined by constant

trends in average air
temperature (which changes
with pressure and
radiation), where the outer
exosphere is not shown.

1. Troposphere
2. Tropopause
3. Stratosphere
4. Stratopause
5. Mesosphere
6. Mesopause
7. Thermosphere
8. Exosphere
Atmospheric Layers

Tropopause separates Troposphere from

Stratosphere. Generally higher in summer
Lower in winter.
Troposphere – Temp decrease w/ height
Most of our weather occurs in this layer
Varies in height around the globe, but
Averages about 11 km in height.
The troposphere is the lowest major atmospheric layer, and is located from the Earth's 
surface up to the bottom of the stratosphere. It has decreasing temperature with height (at an 
average rate of 3.5° F per thousand feet (6.5 ° C per kilometer); whereas the stratosphere 
has either constant or slowly increasing temperature with height. The troposphere is where 
all of Earth's weather occurs. The boundary that divides the troposphere from the 
stratosphere is called the "tropopause", located at an altitude of around 5 miles in the winter, 
to around 8 miles high in the summer, and as high as 11 or 12 miles in the deep tropics. 
When you see the top of a thunderstorm flatten out into an anvil cloud, like in the 
illustration above, it is usually because the updrafts in the storm are "bumping up against" 
the bottom of the stratosphere 
Atmospheric Layers

Stratosphere
Temperature inversion in stratosphere
Ozone plays a major part in heating the air
At this altitude
Atmospheric Layers

Mesosphere
Middle atmosphere – Air thin,
pressure low, Need oxygen to live
in this region.
Air quite Cold -90°C (-130°F)
near the top of mesosphere
 Atmospheric Layers

Thermosphere
“Hot layer” – oxygen molecules absorb
energy from solar Rays warming the air.
Very few atoms and molecules in this
Region.

Figure 1.7
 The Stratosphere and Ozone Layer
Above the troposphere is the stratosphere, where air flow is mostly horizontal. The thin ozone layer in the upper 
stratosphere has a high concentration of ozone, a particularly reactive form of oxygen. This layer is primarily 
responsible for absorbing the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The formation of this layer is a delicate matter, since 
only when oxygen is produced in the atmosphere can an ozone layer form and prevent an intense flux of ultraviolet 
radiation from reaching the surface, where it is quite hazardous to the evolution of life. There is considerable recent 
concern that manmade flourocarbon compounds may be depleting the ozone layer, with dire future consequences for 
life on the Earth. 
The Mesosphere and Ionosphere
Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere and above that is the ionosphere (or thermosphere), where many atoms are 
ionized (have gained or lost electrons so they have a net electrical charge). The ionosphere is very thin, but it is where 
aurora take place, and is also responsible for absorbing the most energetic photons from the Sun, and for reflecting radio 
waves, thereby making long­distance radio communication possible. 
 A Brief Look at Air Pressure
and Air Density
 air density (ρ pronounced “row”)
 air pressure (p)
 sea-level pressure (ps)

• Baseballs travel farther in higher­altitude air (Denver)
than they do in lower­altitude air.
Pressure & Density
Gravity pulls gases 
toward earth's 
surface, and the 
whole column of 
gases weighs 14.7 psi 
at sea level, a 
pressure of 1013.25 
mb or 29.92 in.Hg.
The amount of force
exerted Over an area of
surface is called
Air pressure!

Air Density is
The number of air
Molecules in a given
Space (volume)
 Vertical Pressure Profile
Atmospheric 
pressure 
decreases 
rapidly with 
height.  
Climbing to an 
altitude of only 
5.5 km where 
the pressure is 
500 mb, would 
put you above 
one­half of the 
atmosphere’s 
molecules.
 Meteorology 101

Air Pressure
“Top”
On average, air weighs
about 14.7 lb/in2

14.7 lb/in2 =29.92

“inches of mercury”

1” Air Pressure varies over

1”
the globe
 Meteorology 101
Changing Pressure - Winds

L H
Take more out than put in – decrease pressure
Put more in than take out – increase pressure
 Meteorology 101
Changing Pressure - Temperature

Cold Warm

H L
Coldest column = highest pressure **
Warmest column = lowest pressure **
 Meteorology 101

Rising Air near L ows

• Rising air cools; water vapor in the air

condenses to form clouds/precipitation
• Lows tend to bring cloudy, wet weather

Sinking air near H ighs

• Sinking air warms and dries out.

• Highs tend to bring fair, dry weather.
 Meteorology 101

Some Fundamentals

• Earth is heated unevenly: Tropics are

warmer than the Polar Regions.

• Nature tries to try to even out

temperature differences.
• Uneven heating sets atmosphere in
motion and is the fundamental cause
of all weather.
 Meteorology 101
Ridge

Upper-
Level
Features

Trough

Westerlies - High-Altitude winds blow

generally west-to-east 3-6 miles above mid-
latitudes.
Jet Stream – River of fastest-moving air
within the westerlies.
 Meteorology 101

Reality is messier …

Still, highs and Lows move with the

westerlies and the jet stream.
 Weather vs. Climate

Weather is the dynamical way

in which the atmosphere
maintains the equilibrium
climate.
 Elements of Weather
 air temperature
 air pressure
 humidity
 clouds • Certain weather elements, like
clouds, visibility and wind, are
 precipitation of particular interest to pilots.
 visibility
 wind
 Climate
 Average weather
• time-average
• regional (spatial) average
 Extremes
 Trends
 Climate represents long-term
(e.g. 30 yr) averages of weather.
 A Satellite’s View of the
Weather
 geostationary satellites
• Atmospheric observation 
from satellites was an 
important technological 
development in 
meteorology.  Other
important developments 
include computers, internet, 
and Doppler radar.
 Storms of all Sizes
 midlatitude cyclonic storms
 hurricanes and tropical storms
 thunderstorms
 tornadoes

• Storms are very exciting, but they also play an 
important role in moving heat and moisture around 
throughout the atmosphere.
Impacts of Weather 1/5
Impacts of Weather 2/5
Impacts of Weather 3/5
Impacts of Weather 4/5
Impacts of Weather 5/5

Lightning strikes earth

100 times every
second