Chapter 15, Section 4
By Stephanie Lund
September 27, 2005
T4
Quick Notes
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Inner or lowest layer of Earth’s
atmosphere
Weather occurs here
Contains almost all of the mass in the
atmosphere
Starts at the Earth’s surface and
extends anywhere between 8 and 16
kilometers above Earth
The air at the top is about -60 degrees,
Celsius
Question
Why do you think the clouds at the top of
the Troposphere are made of ice
crystals and not drops of water?
The
Quick Notes
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Extends from the top of the
Troposphere to about 50K above
Earth’s surface
The lower stratosphere is
warmer than the upper
troposphere
A large amount of ozone is
found here, it absorbs ultraviolet
radiation from the sun
Question
Do you know what ultraviolet radiation
is?
The
Quick Notes
o
o
o
“Meso” means middle and the
mesosphere is the middle layer of
the Atmosphere
Starts at 50k above earth and ends
at 80K
Protects earth from being hit by
meteorites (chunks of stone and
Metal)
Question
What is the depth of the Mesosphere?
The
Quick Notes
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Starts at 80k above Earth and extends
all the way to space
Air is .001% as dense as the air at sea
level
Outermost layer of the atmosphere
The Thermosphere is broken up into
two parts: The Ionosphere and The
Exosphere
Ionosphere-The Aurora Borealis occurs
here. It is caused by particles from the
sun entering the Ionosphere near the
North Pole
Exosphere- when you make a phone
call or listen to the radio the signal
travels up to satellites that are orbiting
the Exosphere
Review Questions
After reading this Power Point you should be able to
answer these 6 questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What are the characteristics of the main layers of the atmosphere
(not including the Ionosphere and the Exosphere) ?
In which layer of the atmosphere do rain, snow, storms, and most
clouds occur?
Ozone absorbs energy from the sun in which layer of the
atmosphere?
In what layer of the atmosphere do most meteoroids burn up in?
Where does the Aurora Borealis occur?
In which layer of the atmosphere do communication satellites orbit
Earth?
Bibliography
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http://www.dask.org.tr/english/want_to_know/meteorology/atmosphere/atmosphere.ht
m
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html
http://curriculum.calstatela.edu/courses/builders/lessons/less/les3/layers.html
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/atmosphere.html
http://vortex.plymouth.edu/atmosphere/layers.html
Science Explorer Earth Science. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
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