Space is filled with energy. Energy fills space unevenly. There are places of its concentration and discharge. This way you can estimate the density. The planet is an ordered system, with a maximum density of matter in the center and a gradual decrease in concentration towards the periphery. Interaction forces determine the state of matter, the form in which it exists. Physics describes the state of aggregation of substances:
solid
, liquid, gas and so on.
The atmosphere is the gaseous environment surrounding the planet.
The Earth's atmosphere allows free movement and allows light to pass through, creating space in which life thrives.
The next layer of the atmosphere is called the Mesosphere. Limits from approximately 50 km to 85 km.
In the mesosphere, the concentration of ozone, which could trap UV energy, is low, so the temperature again begins to fall with height. At the peak point, the temperature drops to -90 C, some sources indicate a value of -130 C. Most meteoroids burn up in this layer of the atmosphere.
The layer of the atmosphere, stretching from a height of 85 km to a distance of 600 km from the Earth, is called the Thermosphere.
The thermosphere is the first to encounter solar radiation, including the so-called vacuum ultraviolet.
Vacuum UV is retained by the air, thereby heating this layer of the atmosphere to enormous temperatures. However, since the pressure here is extremely low, this seemingly hot gas does not have the same effect on objects as under conditions on the surface of the earth. On the contrary, objects placed in such an environment will cool down. At an altitude of 100 km there passes the conventional line “Karman line”, which is considered to be the beginning of space.
Auroras occur in the thermosphere. In this layer of the atmosphere
sunny wind
interacts with the planet's magnetic field.
The final layer of the atmosphere is the Exosphere, an outer shell that extends for thousands of kilometers.
The gaseous envelope surrounding our planet Earth, known as the atmosphere, consists of five main layers. These layers originate on the surface of the planet, from sea level (sometimes below) and rise to outer space in the following sequence:
Troposphere;
Of all the layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere is the one with which we are most familiar (whether you realize it or not), since we live on its bottom - the surface of the planet. It envelops the surface of the Earth and extends upward for several kilometers. The word troposphere means "change of the globe." A very appropriate name, since this layer is where our everyday weather occurs.
Starting from the surface of the planet, the troposphere rises to a height of 6 to 20 km. The bottom third of the layer, closest to us, contains 50% of all atmospheric gases. This is the only part of the entire atmosphere that breathes. Due to the fact that the air is heated from below by the earth's surface, absorbing thermal energy The sun, with increasing altitude, the temperature and pressure of the troposphere decrease.
At the top there is a thin layer called the tropopause, which is just a buffer between the troposphere and the stratosphere.
The stratosphere is the next layer of the atmosphere. It extends from 6-20 km to 50 km above the Earth's surface. This is the layer in which most commercial airliners fly and hot air balloons travel.
Here the air does not flow up and down, but moves parallel to the surface in very fast air currents. As you rise, the temperature increases, thanks to the abundance of natural ozone (O3) - a byproduct of solar radiation and oxygen, which has the ability to absorb harmful ultra-violet rays of the sun (any increase in temperature with height in meteorology is known as an "inversion").
Since the stratosphere has more warm temperatures below and cooler above, convection (vertical movement of air masses) is rare in this part of the atmosphere. In fact, you can view a storm raging in the troposphere from the stratosphere because the layer acts as a convection cap that prevents storm clouds from penetrating.
After the stratosphere there is again a buffer layer, this time called the stratopause.
The mesosphere is located approximately 50-80 km from the Earth's surface. The upper mesosphere is the coldest natural place on Earth, where temperatures can drop below -143°C.
After the mesosphere and mesopause comes the thermosphere, located between 80 and 700 km above the surface of the planet, and contains less than 0.01% of the total air in the atmospheric envelope. Temperatures here reach up to +2000° C, but due to the strong rarefaction of the air and the lack of gas molecules to transfer heat, these high temperatures are perceived as very cold.
At an altitude of about 700-10,000 km above the earth's surface is the exosphere - the outer edge of the atmosphere, bordering space. Here weather satellites orbit the Earth.
The ionosphere is not a separate layer, but in fact the term is used to refer to the atmosphere between 60 and 1000 km altitude. It includes the uppermost parts of the mesosphere, the entire thermosphere and part of the exosphere. The ionosphere gets its name because it is in this part of the atmosphere that radiation from the Sun is ionized as it passes through magnetic fields Lands on and. This phenomenon is observed from the ground as the northern lights.
The atmosphere is the gaseous shell of our planet, which rotates along with the Earth. The gas in the atmosphere is called air. The atmosphere is in contact with the hydrosphere and partially covers the lithosphere. But the upper limits are difficult to determine. It is conventionally accepted that the atmosphere extends upward for approximately three thousand kilometers. There it smoothly flows into airless space.
Formation chemical composition the atmosphere began about four billion years ago. Initially, the atmosphere consisted only of light gases - helium and hydrogen. According to scientists, the initial prerequisites for the creation of a gas shell around the Earth were volcanic eruptions, which, along with lava, emitted huge amounts of gases. Subsequently, gas exchange began with water spaces, with living organisms, and with the products of their activities. The composition of the air gradually changed and modern form recorded several million years ago.
The main components of the atmosphere are nitrogen (about 79%) and oxygen (20%). The remaining percentage (1%) comes from the following gases: argon, neon, helium, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, krypton, xenon, ozone, ammonia, sulfur and nitrogen dioxides, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide, which are included in this one percent.
In addition, the air contains water vapor and particulate matter (pollen, dust, salt crystals, aerosol impurities).
IN Lately Scientists note not a qualitative, but a quantitative change in some air ingredients. And the reason for this is man and his activities. Only for the last 100 years content carbon dioxide has increased significantly! This is fraught with many problems, the most global of which is climate change.
The atmosphere plays a critical role in shaping the climate and weather on Earth. A lot depends on the amount of sunlight, the nature of the underlying surface and atmospheric circulation.
Let's look at the factors in order.
1. The atmosphere transmits the heat of the sun's rays and absorbs harmful radiation. The ancient Greeks knew that the rays of the Sun fall on different parts of the Earth at different angles. The word “climate” itself translated from ancient Greek means “slope”. So, at the equator, the sun's rays fall almost vertically, which is why it is very hot here. The closer to the poles, the greater the angle of inclination. And the temperature drops.
2. Due to the uneven heating of the Earth, air currents are formed in the atmosphere. They are classified according to their sizes. The smallest (tens and hundreds of meters) are local winds. This is followed by monsoons and trade winds, cyclones and anticyclones, and planetary frontal zones.
All these air masses are constantly moving. Some of them are quite static. For example, trade winds that blow from the subtropics towards the equator. The movement of others depends largely on atmospheric pressure.
3. Atmospheric pressure is another factor influencing climate formation. This is the air pressure on the surface of the earth. As is known, air masses move from an area with high atmospheric pressure towards an area where this pressure is lower.
A total of 7 zones are allocated. Equator - zone low pressure. Further, on both sides of the equator up to the thirtieth latitude - the region high pressure. From 30° to 60° - low pressure again. And from 60° to the poles is a high pressure zone. Air masses circulate between these zones. Those that come from the sea to land bring rain and bad weather, and those that blow from the continents bring clear and dry weather. In places where air currents collide, atmospheric front zones are formed, which are characterized by precipitation and inclement, windy weather.
Scientists have proven that even a person’s well-being depends on atmospheric pressure. According to international standards, normal atmospheric pressure is 760 mm Hg. column at a temperature of 0°C. This indicator is calculated for those areas of land that are almost level with sea level. With altitude the pressure decreases. Therefore, for example, for St. Petersburg 760 mm Hg. - this is the norm. But for Moscow, which is located higher, normal pressure is 748 mm Hg.
The pressure changes not only vertically, but also horizontally. This is especially felt during the passage of cyclones.
The atmosphere is reminiscent layered cake. And each layer has its own characteristics.
. Troposphere- the layer closest to the Earth. The "thickness" of this layer changes with distance from the equator. Above the equator, the layer extends upward by 16-18 km, in temperate zones by 10-12 km, at the poles by 8-10 km.
It is here that 80% of the total air mass and 90% of water vapor are contained. Clouds form here, cyclones and anticyclones arise. The air temperature depends on the altitude of the area. On average, it decreases by 0.65° C for every 100 meters.
. Tropopause- transition layer of the atmosphere. Its height ranges from several hundred meters to 1-2 km. The air temperature in summer is higher than in winter. For example, above the poles in winter it is -65° C. And above the equator it is -70° C at any time of the year.
. Stratosphere- this is a layer whose upper boundary lies at an altitude of 50-55 kilometers. Turbulence here is low, the content of water vapor in the air is negligible. But there is a lot of ozone. Its maximum concentration is at an altitude of 20-25 km. In the stratosphere, the air temperature begins to rise and reaches +0.8° C. This is due to the fact that the ozone layer interacts with ultraviolet radiation.
. Stratopause- a low intermediate layer between the stratosphere and the mesosphere that follows it.
. Mesosphere- the upper boundary of this layer is 80-85 kilometers. Complex photochemical processes involving free radicals occur here. They are the ones who provide that gentle blue glow of our planet, which is seen from space.
Most comets and meteorites burn up in the mesosphere.
. Mesopause- the next intermediate layer, the air temperature in which is at least -90°.
. Thermosphere- the lower boundary begins at an altitude of 80 - 90 km, and the upper boundary of the layer runs approximately at 800 km. The air temperature is rising. It can vary from +500° C to +1000° C. During the day, temperature fluctuations amount to hundreds of degrees! But the air here is so rarefied that understanding the term “temperature” as we imagine it is not appropriate here.
. Ionosphere- combines the mesosphere, mesopause and thermosphere. The air here consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen molecules, as well as quasi-neutral plasma. Sun rays When entering the ionosphere, air molecules are strongly ionized. In the lower layer (up to 90 km) the degree of ionization is low. The higher, the greater the ionization. So, at an altitude of 100-110 km, electrons are concentrated. This helps to reflect short and medium radio waves.
The most important layer of the ionosphere is the upper one, which is located at an altitude of 150-400 km. Its peculiarity is that it reflects radio waves, and this facilitates the transmission of radio signals over considerable distances.
It is in the ionosphere that such a phenomenon as the aurora occurs.
. Exosphere- consists of oxygen, helium and hydrogen atoms. The gas in this layer is very rarefied and hydrogen atoms often escape into outer space. Therefore, this layer is called the “dispersion zone”.
The first scientist to suggest that our atmosphere has weight was the Italian E. Torricelli. Ostap Bender, for example, in his novel “The Golden Calf” lamented that every person is pressed by a column of air weighing 14 kg! But the great schemer was a little mistaken. An adult experiences pressure of 13-15 tons! But we do not feel this heaviness, because atmospheric pressure is balanced by the internal pressure of a person. The weight of our atmosphere is 5,300,000,000,000,000 tons. The figure is colossal, although it is only a millionth of the weight of our planet.
