THE ATMOSPHERE

AEN 1
(Fundamentals of Agricultural Engineering)

LLCLAVERIA, ABE
CEFS,DAEN
 DEFINITION

Greek words:
“atmos” – vapor
“ sphaira” – sphere

Atmosphere – gas layer of earth

 COMPOSITION OF EARTH’S
ATMOSPHERE

Gas present at the Atmosphere:

1. Nitrogen
2. Oxygen
3. Argon
4. Carbon Dioxide
5. Other gases
 POLLUTION

• Particle pollution (particulate matter)

• Ground-level ozone
• Carbon monoxide
• Sulfur oxides
• Nitrogen oxides
• Lead
 SOURCES OF POLLUTION

• Mobile sources – such as cars, buses, planes, trucks,

and trains
• Stationary sources – such as power plants, oil
refineries, industrial facilities, and factories
• Area sources – such as agricultural areas, cities,
and wood burning fireplaces
• Natural sources – such as wind-blown dust,
wildfires, and volcanoes
SOURCES OF POLLUTION
 SOURCES OF POLLUTION
Secondary pollutants: form in the atmosphere when
reactions occur among primary pollutants & other
substances.
• Sulfur dioxide combines with oxygen to make sulfur
trioxide, which combines with water to make acid
rain.
 SOURCES OF POLLUTION
Secondary pollutants: form in the atmosphere when
reactions occur among primary pollutants & other
substances.
• Nitrogen oxide absorbs solar radiation, beginning a
chain of reactions which use organic compounds in
the atmosphere to produce photochemical smog
(brown haze)
SOURCES OF POLLUTION
SOURCES OF POLLUTION
 STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE
Atmosphere thins as you move away from
Earth until there are no molecules… OUTER
SPACE
 STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE
Air pressure: weight of air above, pressing down
with gravity
• Changes with
elevation

50% of air lies

below this altitude
STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE
LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
 LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Troposphere: Closest to the surface of earth.
• “Tropos” means change. This layer gets its name from the
weather that is constantly changing and mixing up the gases
in this part of our atmosphere.
• The troposphere is between 5 and 9 miles (8 and 14
kilometers) thick depending on where you are on Earth.
• This layer has the air we breathe and the clouds in the sky.
The air is densest in this lowest layer. In fact, the troposphere
contains three-quarters of the mass of the entire atmosphere.
The air here is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The last 1% is
made of argon, water vapor, and carbon dioxide.
 LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Stratosphere: Between troposphere and mesosphere
• “Strat” means layer. This layer of our atmosphere has its own
set of layers. There are no storms or turbulence here to mix up
the air, so cold, heavy air is at the bottom and warm, light air
is at the top.
• This layer is 22 miles (35 kilometers) thick.
• The stratosphere is where you’ll find the very
important ozone layer. The ozone layer helps protect us
from ultraviolet radiation (UV) from the sun.
 LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Mesosphere: Lies between the thermosphere and the stratosphere.
• “Meso” means middle, and this is the highest layer of the
atmosphere in which the gases are all mixed up rather than
being layered by their mass.
• The mesosphere is 22 miles (35 kilometers) thick. The air is still
thin, so you wouldn’t be able to breathe up in the
mesosphere. But there is more gas in this layer than there is
out in the thermosphere.
• Those meteors are burning up in the mesosphere
 LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Thermosphere: lies between the exosphere and the mesosphere.
• “Thermo” means heat, and the temperature in this layer can
reach up to 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit
• This layer of Earth’s atmosphere is about 319 miles (513
kilometers) thick. That’s much thicker than the inner layers of
the atmosphere, but not nearly as thick as the exosphere.
• The thermosphere is home to the International Space Station
as it orbits Earth. This is also where you’ll find low Earth orbit
satellites.
• Aurora occur in this layer.
 LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Exosphere is the outermost layer of our atmosphere.
• “Exo” means outside and is the same prefix used to describe
insects like grasshoppers that have a hard shell or
“exoskeleton” on the outside of their body.
• It’s about 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) thick. That’s almost
as wide as Earth itself.
• The exosphere has gases like hydrogen and helium, but they
are very spread out. There is a lot of empty space in between.
There is no air to breathe, and it’s very cold
 BOUNDARY LAYER
• It is a part of the troposphere that is directly influenced by the
presence of earth’s surface and responds to surface forcing
with a time scale of about an hour or less (STULL,1988)
• The variation of the boundary layer plays a critical role for
dictating the dispersion of pollutants since most pollutants are
emitted or formed in the boundary layer
BOUNDARY LAYER
BOUNDARY LAYER
 BOUNDARY LAYER
PLANETRAY BOUNDARY LAYER is extremely
DYNAMIC
• Height of PBL is changing with time
Depends on:
1. rate of heating or cooling of the surface
2. strength of winds
3. the roughness and topographical characteristics of the surface
4. large-scale vertical motions
5. horizontal advections of heat and moisture
• daytime: PBL height (1 to 2 km)
• nighttime: PBL height (less than 100m)
BOUNDARY LAYER
BOUNDARY LAYER
 BOUNDARY LAYER
Significance of the boundary layer (BL)
– People spend most of their lives in the BL
– Daily weather forecasts of dew, frost, and maximum and
minimum temperatures are really BL forecasts
– Pollution is trapped in the BL
– Fog occurs within the BL
– The primary energy source for the whole atmosphere is
solar radiation, which for the most part is absorbed at the
ground and transmitted to the rest of the atmosphere by
BL processes
– Crops are grown in the BL. Pollen is distributed by
boundary layer circulations
 BOUNDARY LAYER
Significance of the boundary layer (BL)
– Cloud nuclei are stirred into the air from the surface by BL
processes
– Virtually all water vapor that reaches the FA is first
transported through the BL by turbulent and advective
processes
– Thunderstorm and hurricane evolution are tied to the
inflow of moist BL air
– About 50% of the atmosphere’s kinetic energy is
dissipated in the BL
– Wind stress on the sea surface is the primary energy source
for ocean currents