Atmosphere/Winds
500km
EXOSPHERE
Ionosphere - Layer of
electrically charged
particles. 250 – 300 Km.
85km
50km
TROPOSHPERE
Atmosphere
Temperatures & Depth
STRATOSPHERE
MESOPSHERE
THERMOSPHERE
90 to 10o C
5 to 90o C
65 to 0o C
10 to 75o C
Jet Streams
10km
Sun warms air
EXOSPHERE
Coolest part
Little water vapor
Atmosphere
Facts
STRATOSPHERE
MESOSPHERE
THERMOSPHERE
Satellites
Weather & Clouds
Dust, Water & Ice
Weather balloons
X-15 Aircraft
Auroras
Space shuttle
TROPOSHPERE
Radio waves
75% of gases
Airplanes
Ozone -20 - 50 km
Absorbs heat
from sun
Trace Gases
OXYGEN
21%
Argon - .93%
CO2 -
.034
Neon - .00182
NITROGEN
78%
Helium - .00052
TRACE GASES 1% Methane - .00015
Krypton - .000114
Hydrogen - .00005
COMPOSITION OF ATMOSHPERE
Coriolis Effect
World’s major wind systems are created when air moving
across the surface is deflected either eastward/westward
due to the Coriolis Effect. Creates world weather patterns.
Atmospheric circulation is powered by energy of the Sun.
• Polar Easterlies - East to West
• Westerlies - West to East - opposite of trade winds
Responsible for weather in the U.S. & Canada
• Trade winds - East to West
Steady winds create route for sailors in North
• Doldrums - Windless zone
Air seems motionless
Hot air rises - less dense - moves straight up
POLAR EASTERLIES
60 O
WESTERLIES
Jet Streams
30
O
Jet Streams
TRADE WINDS
10
DOLDRUMS
EQUATOR
O
0O
DOLDRUMS
10 O
Jet Streams
TRADE WINDS
30 O
Jet Streams
WESTERLIES
60 O
POLAR EASTERLIES
Jet Streams
SMALLER SYSTEMS WHICH CREATE LOCAL WEATHER - by convection currents
Sea Breezes DAY
• Created during day because solar
radiation, warms the land more than the
water.
• Air over land heated by conduction.
• Heated air becomes less dense - goes
up because of cooler denser air moving
from ocean, convections currents result.
Sea by Night
LAND BREEZE
LAND BREEZES - NIGHT
• Smaller systems which create local weather,
caused by convection currents.
• Air over land is heated by conduction.
SEA BREEZE
Sea by Day
• Land warms and cools more rapidly than
water.
RADIATION warms
the surface.
The air near Earth’s surface is
heated by CONDUCTION.
Cooler air pushes warm
air upward, creating a
CONVECTION CURRENTS.
Transfer of HEAT within Earth’s atmosphere.