Composition
What is air made up of?
Gases, Radiation, particles (aerosols)
What is the pause between the mesosphere and thermosphere
mesopause
What are the layers in order from top to bottom?
Thermo, meso, strato, tropo
What force creates air pressure?
Gravity
What is the 'regular' oxygen molecule in the atmosphere?
O2
sea salt
dust
sand
bacteria
pollen
volcanic emissions
What temperature is the average at 15-20km above sea level?
negative 60 degrees Celsius
What two layers have a temperature profile which starts (lowest point) cold and ends hot (at the highest altitude of that layer)?
Strato & Thermo
What happens to air molecules when they are under less air pressure?
They spread out and move further apart, that's why its hard to breathe at the summit of Everest.
What atmospheric layer does the ozone layer concentrate in?
Stratosphere
What are the natural greenhouse gases that are meant to regulate the Earth's temperature using the energy budget?
CH4 (methane), CO2 (carbon dioxide), H2O (water vapor)
How is the stratopause defined
altitude at which the concentration of ozone decreases, creating a lack of absorption and heating at this point - starts to cool down and you enter the mesosphere
Why is the mesosphere a dangerous place for space rocks to hangout in?
Meteors experience high friction, and heat when entering the mesosphere and hitting the air molecules, causing them to burn up and disintegrate (break down)
What altitude does the thermosphere begin? or where the stratopause is located?
85km-90km, ranging up to 3000km if you include the exosphere and the emergence into the beginning of space.
How does O2 become split up into atomic (singular) oxygen molecule?
incoming radiation containing Ultraviolet is strong enough to break the covalent bonding between the oxygen molecule (o2) and create two separate atomic oxygen molecules to fly around the stratosphere.
What is the three main gases in the atmosphere and their percentages
N2 - 78%
O2 - 20.9%
Ar - 0.7%
Why is there not a definitive thermopause
Gradual decrease in the presence of air molecules above 85km to not be a specific change in temp or pattern
What heats up the troposphere?
incoming solar insolation is absorbed by the earth's surface (47-50%) and then through conduction and convection transfers heat into the lower level of the troposphere.
What is the average air pressure on the earth's surface in millibars?
1013mb
What type of UV is blocked or absorbed by the ozone layer?
UVC (shortest wavelength ultraviolet light)
What percentage of water vapor would you expect to find over a tropical rainforest in the late afternoon?
How do we establish the altitude of a specific pause?
The change in temperature pattern based on temperature and altitude.
Why is the thermosphere temp profile showing an increase in temperature?
radiation absorption and individual air molecules heating up - no temp raise due to distance between molecules and lack of collisions.
Why does air pressure decrease rapidly with increasing altitude?
gravity slightly decreases
Less air molecules as altitude increases and air density drops
Less air molecules pushing down the higher you go therefore less air pressure exerted on that part of the atmosphere
What is the bond called which joins the two oxygen molecules together in O2?
double covalent bond (very strong)