Components of the Earth system

ศูนย์ ภมู ิอากาศ สานักพัฒนาอุตุนิยมวิทยา

27 ธันวาคม 2559
Components of the Earth System
44% of the world’s population live within 150km of a coastline
 The Earth System
1. The hydrosphere: Liquid water
2. The cryosphere: Ice
3. The atmosphere: The gases
4. The lithosphere(Geosphere): sediments, rocks
and magma
5. The biosphere: Living things
6. The Pyschosphere: defined as that connected to
the humanity
 1. Hydrosphere

• The totality of water encompassing the Earth, comprising all the

bodies of water, i and water vapor in the atmosphere.

is a defining characteristic of the Earth. It is the only planet in the

Solar System with a hydrological cycle. This includes: oceans;
freshwater (rivers, lakes, and groundwater).
 2. Cryosphere
• The term cryosphere refers to the components of the climate
system dominated by water in its frozen phase, that is, in high
latitudes and extratropical winter conditions. Elements include
snow, its distribution and depths, sea ice, its distribution and
properties, high-latitude ice caps, and temperate glaciers. The
largest volume of frozen water is stored in ice caps, and glaciers.
This storage acts to remove water from the oceans. How it changes
with climate change is, hence, of interest for determining changing
sea levels.

• Ice is highly reflective of sunlight, especially in crystal form. The loss

of solar heating because of this high albedo acts to substantially
reduce high-latitude temperatures especially in spring and early
summer where near-maximum solar radiation sees white snow-
covered surfaces. This high albedo can be substantially masked by
cloud cover and, over land, tall vegetation such as conifer forests.
 3. Atmosphere
The air surrounding the Earth, described as a series of shells or layers of
different characteristics. The atmosphere, composed mainly of nitrogen and
oxygen with traces of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases, acts as a
buffer between Earth and the sun. The layers, troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, thermosphere, and the exosphere, vary around the globe and in
response to seasonal changes.

Troposphere stems from the Greek word tropos, which means turning or mixing.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, extending to a
height of 8-15 km, depending on latitude. This region, constantly in motion, is the
most dense layer of the atmosphere and the region that essentially contains all of
Earth's weather. Molecules of nitrogen and oxygen compose the bulk of the
troposphere.

The tropopause marks the limit of the troposphere and the beginning of the
stratosphere. The temperature above the tropopause increases slowly with
height up to about 50 km.

The stratosphere and stratopause stretch above the troposphere to a height of

50 km. It is a region of intense interactions among radiative, dynamical, and
chemical processes, in which horizontal mixing of gaseous components
proceeds much more rapidly that vertical mixing. The stratosphere is warmer
than the upper troposphere, primarily because of a stratospheric ozone layer that
absorbs solar ultraviolet energy.
 3. Atmosphere (cont.)
The mesosphere, 50 to 80 km above the Earth, has diminished ozone
concentration and radiative cooling becomes relatively more important. The
temperature begins to decline again (as it does in the troposphere) with
altitude. Temperatures in the upper mesosphere fall to -70 degrees to -140
degrees Celsius, depending upon latitude and season. Millions of meteors
burn up daily in the mesosphere as a result of collisions with some of the
billions of gas particles contained in that layer. The collisions create enough
heat to burn the falling objects long before they reach the ground.
The stratosphere and mesosphere are referred to as the middle atmosphere.
The mesopause, at an altitude of about 80 km, separates the mesosphere
from the thermosphere--the outermost layer of the Earth's atmosphere.
The thermosphere, from the Greek thermo for heat, begins about 80 km
above the Earth. At these high altitudes, the residual atmospheric gases sort
into strata according to molecular mass. Thermospheric temperatures
increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation by
the small amount of residual oxygen still present. Temperatures can rise to
2,000 degrees C. Radiation causes the scattered air particles in this layer to
become charged electrically, enabling radio waves to bounce off and be
received beyond the horizon.
At the exosphere, beginning at 500 to 1,000 km above the Earth's surface,
the atmosphere blends into space. The few particles of gas here can reach
4,500 degrees F (2,500 degrees C) during the day.
 4. Lithosphere

• The lithosphere is the term given to the rock and

minerals which form Earth’s outer crust and its tectonic
plates. This is an important part of the Earth’s system as
these rocks become eroded and weathered to provide
important minerals to the other Earth systems. Through
Earth’s history, the entire lithosphere has been recycled
approximately six times. At the outermost layer of the
lithosphere, the ‘pedosphere’ (meaning soil sphere)
exists at the interface
between lithospheric, atmospheric, biospheric and hydro
spheric processes. The combination of these processes
leads to soil formation, which is essential for sustaining
life on Earth (the biosphere).
 5. Biosphere

The biosphere refers to all types of life on Earth,

including plants, animals, and bacteria. Over the
history of the Earth the biosphere has changed
considerably with a great number of species evolving,
adapting, and becoming extinct. The diversity of the
biosphere varies greatly across the Earth, as species can
be highly vulnerable to even minor variations in
climate. A slight change in air temperature or moisture,
for example, can alter the type of vegetation (flora)
which is able to grow in a given location. This may in
turn affect the distribution of animals (fauna) as they
move or adapt in tune with vegetation availability.
The Earth’s Hydrologic Cycle
Water reservoir
 Ocean Basins

• Pacific Ocean – Largest, average depth 3940 meters

• Atlantic Ocean – half size of Pacific, relatively narrow, and bounded by almost parallel
continental margins.
• Indian Ocean – slightly smaller than Atlantic, and largely in Southern Hemisphere.
• Arctic Ocean – 7% the size of the Pacific Ocean and is little more than one quarter as
deep as the rest of the ocean.
 Water / Land

• All Earth
– 71% water
– 29% land
• Northern Hemisphere
– 61% water
– 39% land
• Southern Hemisphere
– 81% water
– 19% land
 Volume of Water vs. Land
• Volume of continents above sea level = 1/18 of ocean
– Average Elevation on continents = 840 m (2,750 ft)
– Average depth of ocean = 3800 m (12,500 ft)
 Sea surface height
Ocean dynamic topography, the changing height of the sea level
 Sea Surface Salinity
• Factors affecting ocean salinity: • Local changes:
- evaporation exceeds precipitation - +advection and entrainment
- formation of sea-ice - +other factors

Annual mean surface salinity (PSS: 1978 Practical Salinity Scale )

Salinity vs E-P
• Annual cycle of
the SST

• Annual cycle of
the Sea Level
 Oceans and their role in climate

• The global thermohaline ocean circulation, controlled by heat (“thermo”) and salt (“haline”).
Warm currents (orange) are found on the surface, while cold currents (blue) sink and travel
through the deep ocean. The thermohaline circulation, or ocean conveyor belt, is the
principal mechanism for transporting heat from the Tropics to the polar regions. If the
conveyor belt were to shut down, it could cause Europe to enter a severe cold period and
disrupt climate around the world. (modeled after IPCC)
 Physical processes
• Ocean dynamical processes
• Physical processes at the ocean surface
Atmosphere-Ocean
Interaction
 • The ocean interacts with the
atmosphere at (or very near) the
Three Important Factors： sea surface where the two media
meet.
• Wind Stress
• Visible light can penetrate into
Dynamic（wind-driving current、turbulent）
Thermal（evaporation → temperature、 the ocean several tens
salinity） • of meters, but heat, moisture,
Wave（wind stress change） and momentum, carbon dioxide,
• Heat Transport and other gases exchange directly
OLR↑→ Ta↑，To↓ at the surface. Sea ice forms at the
in SW↑→ Ta、To↑ surface and helps to determine
LH → Cloud Process（cooling effect of
tropical cloud） the local exchanges.
• Fresh Water Transport • The basic problem of the ocean
in climate is to explain these
interchanges and to determine
those characteristics of the ocean
that affect these exchanges.
H H

Wind & SLP

H H

Ocean Currents
 Atmosphere and its role in climate

Atmospheric cells. 3 types of cell envelope the Earth in bands from the poles to the equator;
the Polar Cell, Ferrel Cell and Hadley Cell. The cells transport heat around the planet and,
together with the spin of the Earth (the Coriolis Effect), create the dominant surface winds.
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