ATMOSPHERIC

BASICS

A t mospher e

A thick blanket of gases

surrounding the Earth
Composed of AIR (a
mixture of gases)

What gases are in air?

Nitrogen (N)

78%

Oxygen (O) 21%

Trace gases 1%
Carbon Dioxide (CO2), H2O Vapor, and
Argon (Ar), etc.

Pie Graph of Earths Gas

Composition

Atmospheric Structure

Troposphere
Layer of the
atmosphere closest
to the Earth
Where weather
occurs
Where we live
Contains the
tropopause (Boundary
between troposphere
and stratosphere)

Stratosphere
Second layer of the
atmosphere
Where commercial
aircraft travel
Contains the
stratopause
(Boundary between
Stratosphere and
mesosphere)
Contains the ozone
layer

Ozone Layer

About 10 to 20 km thick
Absorbs 99% of harmful ultraviolet (UV)
rays from the sun
Thinning is the result of
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) containing

What is ozone?:

3 oxygen
atoms bonded
together
O is an atom of Oxygen (O)
O2 is atmospheric Oxygen (OO)

This shows a hole in the ozone over Antarctica.

Mesosphere
Third layer of the
atmosphere
Where meteors burn up
Coldest layer of the
atmosphere
Contains the
mesopause(Boundary between
mesosphere and
thermosphere)

Thermosphere
Fourth layer of
the atmosphere
Where auroras
happen
Contains the
ionosphere

Exosphere
The outer most
layer of the
atmosphere
Essentially outer
space

ers of the atmosphere and Temperat

-Temperature increases
with altitude in the
Stratosphere and the
Thermosphere.
Temperatures in the
thermosphere can be
greater than 1200 C.
These high
temperatures are
generated from the
absorption of intense
solar radiation by
oxygen molecules (O2).
- Temperature
decreases with altitude

Vertical change in average global

atmospheric temperature