Earth’s Atmosphere

Gwen Nytes

Earth’s Layers• Troposphere• Stratosphere• Mesosphere• Thermosphere• Exosphere

TroposphereStatistics

• Nearest to the Earth• Anywhere from 5-11 miles thick• Contains 99% of Earth’s water vapor• Water vapor and temperature decrease

with height• Composition – 78% Nitrogen, 21%

Oxygen, .9% Argon, .3-4.0% Water Vapor, .04% Carbon Dioxide

TroposphereConditions

• Temperature decrease as altitude increases–This is because the ground absorbs the

sun’s energy, so it heats the lower areas.

• Clouds form in this layer, which affect the weather. This is the layer we live in, so this is the weather we have.

StratosphereStatistics• Holds 19% of the

atmosphere’s gases, but very little water vapor• It is about 30 miles up from

the surface

StratosphereConditions

• Temperature increases with height– Heat is produced when ozone is formed. The

heat changes from around -61°F to a maximum of 5°F

– The temperature increase means that warmer air is on top of cooler air. Because of this, there is no convection since there isn’t any upward movement of gases

• This layer absorbs high energy UV rays from the sun, and then breaks it down into oxygen

MesosphereStatistics

• It has an altitude of about 56 miles• Gases continue to get thinner and

thinner as the altitude increases• Even though the gases are thinner,

they are still thick enough to slow meteors down in the atmosphere, where they burn up

MesosphereConditions

• The warming effect of ultraviolet radiation becomes less and less. This causes the temperature to decrease with height.

• The temperature decreases from about 5°F to around -184°F

ThermosphereStatistics

• It has an altitude of about 375 miles above earth’s surface

• The gases are really thin–This causes ultraviolet and x-ray

radiation from the sun to be absorbed by the molecules and cause a big temperature increase

ThermosphereConditions

• Temperature increases with height

• Can reach 3,600°F near the top of the layer

• Even though it’s that hot, it would still feel cold to our skin because of the extremely thin air

ExosphereStatistics

• Outermost layer in our atmosphere• Extremely thin air• Starts at about 434 miles above the

surface and extends out into space

ExosphereConditions• Very warm• Gravity and pressure are

really weak, so atoms are able to drift off into space