Meteorology 1

Meteorology
Meteorology – the study of atmospheric

phenomena (weather and climate).
•“Meteor” is derived from ancient Greek meaning
“high in the air.”
•Clouds, raindrops, dust, fog, and rainbows are
atmospheric “meteors.”
Composition of the Atmosphere
Atmosphere: envelope of air surrounding the
earth and bound to the earth by the earth’s
gravitational attraction.
Extends from the surface into space with

decreasing density with height. No real top.
The atmosphere is really very shallow
compared to the size of the planet
 Just a thin veneer

 ¾ of the
atmosphere by
mass is in the
lowest 33,000 ft,
roughly 10 km
Atmospheric Constituents
 Gases Constituents
CO2: a greenhouse gas (very effective absorber and emitter in the
infrared).
O3: good in stratosphere (protects from UV), bad near the surface
(corrosive to lungs and more)
SO2: emitted by volcanoes. Atmospheric particles and acid rain
NO2: produced by combustion. Acid rain and smog.
Variable gases
 Water vapor (~0 to 4%). Critically important!
◦ Clouds and precipitation
◦ Important way to move energy around
 Methane (CH4): major greenhouse gas
Non-Gas Constituents
 Hydrometeors -rain clouds, hail
 Particulates and aerosols
◦ Aerosol is a liquid or solid dispersed in a gas, usually

air
 Particulates can be
◦ Inorganic- soil, smoke, dirt, sea salt, volcanic dust,
surface acid aerosol
◦ Organic- seeds, spores, pollen, bacteria
Why are particles in the air
important?
 Act as condensation and freezing nuclei!
◦ Water likes to condense on or freeze on to
particles
 Can absorb or scatter radiation
 Reduce visibility
 Can scatter solar radiation to space: cool planet
 Can impact human health.
◦ Can irritate lungs, initiate asthma, heart disease
The Origin of the Earth’s
Atmosphere
Still Many Uncertainties ….

About 4.5 billion
years ago, Earth
formed out of
nebula of gases and
dust that were to
become the solar
system
Small objects--called
planetoids-- accreted or
combined together to build
larger objects…such as planets
The First Atmosphere
 The early atmosphere would have been

similar to the Sun--mainly hydrogen and
helium, but this atmosphere was lost
quickly for at least two reasons:
◦ (1) The gravity of the modest size earth was not
strong enough to prevent such light gases from
escaping to space. Particularly since the early
earth was hot!
◦ (2) It appears that around 30 million years after
the earth’s formation, it was struck by a large
object…the size of Mars. The result: the origin
of the moon and loss of earth’s early H, He
Formation of Moon from the
Debris of the Collision
Earth as Hell
 The surface of the earth during this period
was extremely hot with numerous volcanoes
 The earth was under near constant
bombardment by objects of varying sizes

 Slowly, the earth started to cool down and the
second atmosphere began to form.

Earth’s Second Atmosphere
 A new atmosphere was established by the
outgasing of volcanoes…the mixture of
gases was probably similar to those of
today’s volcanoes:
 H 0 vapor (roughly 80%)
2
 CO (roughly 10%)
2
 N (few percent)
2
 Small amounts of CO, HCL, HS (Hydrogen
Sulfide), SO2, CH4 (Methane), Ammonia

(NH3), and other trace gases.
Earth’s Second Atmosphere
 Virtually no oxygen in that second
atmosphere.
 Thus, no ozone layer, so ultraviolet
radiation flooded the earth’s surface.
 With a huge influx of water vapor and the
cooling of the planet, clouds and earth’s
oceans formed.
 At that time the sun was about 30% weaker
than today…why didn’t the earth freeze
over?
 The apparent reason: so much CO so there
2
was a very strong greenhouse effect.
The Rise of Oxygen and the Third
Atmosphere
 In the first two billion years of the planet’s
evolution, the atmosphere acquired a small
amount of oxygen, probably by the splitting
of water (H20) molecules by solar radiation.
 The evidence of this oxygen is suggested by
minor rust in some early rocks.
 The oxygen also led to the establishment of
an ozone layer that reduced UV radiation at
the surface.
 With the rise of photosynthetic bacteria
(cyanobacteria) and early plants, oxygen
levels began to rise rapidly as did
indications of rust in rocks
 Between 2.5 billion years ago, 0 rose
2
The Third Atmosphere
 While O2 was increasing, CO2 decreased due
to several reasons:
 (1) In photosynthesis CO is used to produce
2
organic matter, some of which is lost to the
system (e.g., drops to the bottom of the
ocean or is buried)
 (2) chemical weathering, which removes CO
2
Chemical Weathering
 H20 + CO2 --> H2CO3 carbonic acid
 CaSiO3 + H2CO3 --> CaCO3 + SiO2 + H20
Calcium Silicate Carbonate
 At first this happened without life, but the
process was sped up tremendously by
living organisms
 Marine organisms would incorporate
carbonate into their shells, which would
fall to the ocean bottom when they
died---thus, removing them from the
system for a long time.
 The bottom line…CO2 was being removed
from the system.
More Changes
 Sulfur compounds were taken out of the
atmosphere as acid rain and were deposited
on the ground as sulfates.
 N2 gas increased slowly but progressively
since it was relatively inert.
 Current composition of the atmosphere was
established approximately a billion years ago.
A Problem
 With lower CO2 levels the earth became
more susceptable to ice ages when solar
radiation decreases due to orbital
variations,
 It appears that around 750-550 million
years ago the earth cooled down and
became nearly entirely glaciated.
 Note: one can get into a feedback with
snow reflecting solar radiation, producing
cooler temperatures and more snow,
leading to less radiation, etc.
How Did We Get UnFrozen?
 Volcanoes were still putting CO2 into the
atmosphere
 Weathering was greatly reduced…since little
liquid water.
 So CO2 increased until the greenhouse effect
was so large the earth warmed up.
 Once warming started it would have
happened very rapidly.
The Last 500 million Years
 The climate has not been constant, with warm
periods interrupted by ice ages.
 Much of the variability forced by changing
solar radiation due to periodic changes in the

earth’s orbital characteristics and tilt
(Milankovitch cycles) and major volcanic
eruptions (putting out massive CO2 that
caused warming.
More Snowball Earths?
 Less chance now
 Sun is getting progressively stronger
 Human’s can now stop it (increasing
greenhouse gases)
The Earth has had regular glaciations
and melt backs…Why?
Milankovitch Cycle
 A cyclical movement related to the Earth’s
orbit around the sun.
 These 3 cycles combine to affect the amount
of solar heat that’s incident on the Earth’s

surface and subsequently influence climatic
patterns

Meteorology 1

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Meteorology

Meteorology – the study of atmospheric

Extends from the surface into space with

 Just a thin veneer

◦ Aerosol is a liquid or solid dispersed in a gas, usually

Still Many Uncertainties ….

 The early atmosphere would have been

bombardment by objects of varying sizes

second atmosphere began to form.

Sulfide), SO2, CH4 (Methane), Ammonia

solar radiation due to periodic changes in the

of solar heat that’s incident on the Earth’s

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