ATMOSPHERIC

SCIENCE
and
AIR POLLUTION
METEOROLOGY
 Layers of the Atmosphere
• Troposphere – base
– Capped by a surface of minimum
temperature called tropopause at levels
between 10 and 17 km above sea level
– Temperature decreases with height
– Rate of temperature decrease is called lapse
rate (5.0 K/km)
– Contains most of the water vapor, clouds,
and storm of the atmosphere
– Winds tend to be strongest
– Level at which jet aircraft cruise
 Layers of the Atmosphere
• Stratosphere
– Temperature increases with height reaching
a maximum at 50 – 55 km (stratopause)
– Its warmth is due to the absorption of
ultraviolet radiation from the sun by oxygen
and ozone.
– Most of the world’s ozone is found in this
layer, where it may exceed 5ppm by volume.
– Lethal to human beings
– Very little water vapor
 Layers of the Atmosphere
• Mesosphere
– Extends from the stratopause at 50 –
55 km to another temperature
minimum at 80 km (mesopause)
– Windy and turbulent region
– Too little water vapor for clouds to
form
 Layers of the Atmosphere
• Thermosphere
– Temperature increases indefinitely
upward
– Hot upper atmosphere
Normal Atmospheric Condition

• Air at the trophosphere is warmer

than the air above it
• Hot air rises and is replaced by cold
air which is heated
• This leads to cloud building,
thermals, and other convection
related atmospheric behavior.
 Stable Atmosphere

• A stable atmosphere is one that is

strongly resistant to change
• Negative buoyancy – a parcel of air
that is pushed up sinks to its original
position
• Positive buoyancy – air that is
pushed down wants to rise.
 Stable Atmosphere
• The temperature of the rising air
decreases fast enough that its
temperature will always be colder than the
temperature of the environment.
• Colder air sinks
• If the force pushing the air up suddenly
disappears, the parcel sinks to its original
position where its temperature and
pressure would be in equilibrium with the
environment.
Stable Atmosphere
Unstable Atmosphere
 Factors affecting the temperature of
the air, sea, and land surfaces

• Unequal cooling or heating by the

sun or outgoing radiation
• Transport of heat by winds and
ocean currents
 Temperature Inversion
• Created by the movement of air
masses of different temperature
moving over each other
• It commonly occurs at night: when
solar heating ceases
• The surface cools by radiation, and
cools the immediately overlying
atmosphere
Temperature Inversion
Temperature Inversion
Inversion Layers
 Consequences of Inversion

• Air from lower altitude is prevented

from rising
• Moisture cannot reach the height at
which it would condense to form
cumulus clouds and so the sky is
cloudless
Consequences of Inversion

• Creates a general "stillness" of the

air

• The air becomes murky because dust

and pollutants are no longer lifted
from the surface
 Factors that Affect the
Transport of Air Pollutants
Role of Wind
• Wind speed determines how quickly the
pollutants mix with the surrounding air
and how fast they move away from their
source

• Strong winds tend to lower the

concentration of pollutants by spreading
them apart as they move downstream
 Factors that Affect the
Transport of Air Pollutants
Role of Wind
 Wind

Downbursts of cold wind that

spreads out horizontally
 Wind

The shallow air mass causes the warmer air flowing down
the mountain slope to flow over the top of it, resulting in a
temperature inversion and horizontal wind shear
 Wind

As the air in the valley heats in the morning, a weak

rising motion is induced and air flows down the
downwind slope to replace it
 Wind

As the process begun in the morning continues, a rotary

motion is induced, resulting in another wind shear. This wind
shear has vertical as well as horizontal components to it.
 Factors that Affect the
Transport of Air Pollutants
Role of Stability and Inversion
• Atmospheric stability determines the
extent to which air will rise

• An unstable atmosphere favors

vertical currents
 Factors that Affect the
Transport of Air Pollutants
Role of Stability and Inversion
• A stable atmosphere strongly resists
upward vertical motions

• The stability of the atmosphere is

determined by the way the air
temperature changes with height