LAYERS OF THE

ATMOSPHERE
 TROPOSPHERE
 The troposphere is the
lowest layer of Earth's
atmosphere. The troposphere
starts at Earth's surface and goes
up to a height of 7 to 20 km
above sea level.
 The term troposphere literally
means turnover, meaning that in
this region air mixes and
constantly moves resulting in
constant change called weather.
Almost all weather occurs within
this layer that why this is
sometimes called as ZONE OF
WEATHER.
 Air is warmest at the bottom of
the troposphere near ground
level. Higher up it gets colder.
 The boundary between the
troposphere and the next upper
layer is called tropopause.
 STRATOSPHERE
 This layer is lying at about 20-
50 km. From the earth surface.
 The temperature in lower
stratosphere remains the
same but beyond, there is a
gradual increase in
temperature.
 Unlike the troposphere, there
is no air mixing and no
turbulence in this layer.
 Increase in temperature is due
to the concentration of the gas
ozone forming a layer called
ozone layer. Ozone is a variant
of oxygen compose of 3 atoms
of oxygen.
 The boundary between the
stratosphere and the next
layer is called the stratopause.
 MESOSPHERE
 Located within 50-80 km. from
earth surface.
 The term literally means middle
area.
 The temperature in this layer is
decreasing.
 This is also the last layer with
homogeneous air- air which is
chiefly Oxygen and Nitrogen.
 Most meteors vaporize in the
mesosphere. Some material
from meteors lingers in the
mesosphere, causing this layer
to have a relatively high
concentration of iron and other
metal atoms.
 The boundary between the
mesosphere and the next upper
layer is called mesopause.
 THERMOSPHERE
 This layer is lying beyond the
mesosphere, specifically within 80-100
km. from the earth surface.
 Air in here is heterogeneous with varying
amounts of Hydrogen and Helium.
 The actual temperature in the
Thermosphere can reach as high as
2000º C! It is so hot here because
nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere
absorb a lot of radiation from space and
convert it to heat.
 The boundary between the
thermosphere and the exosphere above
it is called the thermopause.
 The lower Thermosphere is called the
Ionosphere; it extends from 80 to 550
kilometers above the Earth's
surface. Nitrogen, oxygen, and other
particles in the Ionosphere absorb
radiation from the sun and become
electrically charged. Electrically charged
particles are called ions, hence the
name: the Ionosphere. These ions are
important to radio because they reflect
AM radio waves back to earth allowing
for long distance messages to be sent.
 THE THREE DISTINCT LAYERS EXIST IN
THE IONOSPHERE
1. D-layer – lowest layer
containing the least
amount of ions.
2. E-layer – otherwise called
the Kennelley-Heaveside
Layer, the middle layer
containing a higher
concentration of ions.
3. F-layer – also called
Appleton layer, containing
the highest concentration
of ions.
Intense ionization at daytime causes the absorption of radio
waves instead of reflecting most of them back to the surface. At
night, the ion concentration at the D layer falls because of the
recombination of atoms. This makes the E and F layer very
important for radio communication at night time. While listening
to your radio sets at night, you will notice that it could pick up
broadcasts from far off radio stations and even those from
abroad. This is because of the absence of absorbing ions in the
evenings.
 EXOSPHERE
 Beyond 100 km. is the
start of the earth’s
outermost atmospheric
layer, marking the
beginning of the outer
space.
 The air particles here
are hotter than the
ionosphere.
 The temperature are
very high because of
the incessant
bombardment f cosmic
rays.
 Density is very low the
collisions between
particles are extremely
rare.
 HEAT TRANSFER
IN THE ATMOSPHERE
 INSOLATION
This is acronym
for Incoming Solar
Radiation. This
refers to solar
radiation reaching
the atmosphere and
the surface and
becomes utilized in
heating his part of
the atmosphere
near the surface.
 GREENHOUSE EFFECT
 The greenhouse effect is
the natural process by
which the atmosphere
traps some of the Sun's
energy, warming the
Earth enough to support
life.
 The property is possible
because of the so-called
greenhouse gases which
are responsible for the
trapping of heat. Carbon
dioxide and water vapor
are the main
greenhouse gases.
Chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) and Methane
also to the greenhouse
effect.
 The Following Conditions Are Proof To The
Heat-trapping Property Of These Gases:

1. It becomes warm when days are too

cloudy, especially when t s almost about to
rain. This is due to the presence of air
saturated with much water vapor.
2. It becomes warm in cities especially in highly
industrialized zones because of too much
Carbon Dioxide as well as CFCs and
Methane.
3. Its warmer in areas with little or devoid of
trees. Absence of trees would mean absence
of natural sponges to absorb Carbon Dioxide
in air. No trees would mean that most Carbon
Dioxide remains in air.
 RADIATION
When water and land
surface are exposed to solar
radiation, these bodies
absorb heat back to the air
directly above them in the
process of radiation . The
land becomes heated first
than the body of
water, which explains why
the land radiates heat faster.
Air above the land receives
this radiated heat and
becomes heated also. At
night, the land had already
cooed but land and water is
important and water are still
radiating heat. The uneven
heating of are above the
land and water is important
for movements of air to
occur. Without such, there
would be no wind.
 TURBULENT HEAT
EXCHANGE
The transfer of heat from the
earth’s surface to the air directly
above it is a combination of
radiation, convection and
conduction. This combination of
heat transfer is called the turbulent
heat exchange.