Layers of the Atmosphere

5 Layers of the Atmosphere

The layer of gases that envelops the earth is called the atmosphere. Moreover, the set of the layer of gases is held by the gravity of the earth and every layer has more or less of different features. There are 5 layers of the Atmosphere. The 5 layers of the atmosphere are as follow:

Troposphere layers of the Atmosphere

The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the troposphere.  The troposphere contains almost 80% mass of the atmosphere. Most of the clouds are found in this layer and almost all the weather occurs at troposphere. The human lives in this layer.

Range of troposphere

From the surface of the earth to the layer of troposphere. The average height is 12 km. On the basis of weather pattern, the altitude varies. The altitude of the troposphere is 9 km in the polar region. On the hand, the altitude of the troposphere in the equatorial region is 18 km. The layer immediately above the troposphere is stratosphere and it is separated by the tropopause.

Air temperature and air pressure

The temperature of the air is warmest at the bottom of the layer near the ground. On the hand with the increase of altitude the temperature decrease. For this reason, the mountain contains snow at the summer season. The density and pressure of the air of the layer decrease with the increase of the altitude. Since the air pressure drop with the altitude, the temperature also drops with the height.

Weather formation

It contains about 99% of the water vapor of the atmosphere that helps to form most of the type of cloud. All weather activities occur in the layer due to the formation of cloud. Moreover, the weather associated cloud genus generates due to the active wind circulation of the troposphere. The cumulonimbus thunder cloud can enter the lower part of the stratosphere from the below.

Others

The human and other animals live in this layer in the lower portion. On the other hand in the upper portion, the airplane transports. All types of conventional aviation activities occur in the upper portion.

Troposphere and Stratosphere
Troposphere and Stratosphere

Stratosphere

The layer that locates above the troposphere and below the mesosphere is the stratosphere. The tropopause acts as the separation zone between the troposphere and stratosphere. On the other hand, the stratopause also acts as the separation zone between the mesosphere and stratosphere. It is the second layer of the atmosphere.

Range

The layers range from 10 km to 50 km in altitude in the atmosphere. The bottom starts just after 10 km and upper part ends at the 50 km.

Air temperature

The temperature of this layer increases from the lower portion to the upper part. Generally, the temperature at the lower part near the tropopause is -60°C and at the upper portion near the stratosphere, the temperature is 0°C that is much higher than the lower portion.

The presence of the ozone layer

The ozone layer is composed of unusual types of oxygen molecules. The ozone molecules absorb the high energy ultraviolet ray from the Sun and convert the ultraviolet energy into heat.

Weather formation

The layer is very dry and contains a little amount of water vapor.  As a result, few clouds form in this layer.  The polar stratospheric cloud is known as nacreous cloud forms in this layer. It is an exceptional case and usually, it forms in the polar region.

Air transport

The air is a thousand times thinner than the sea level. As a result, the weather balloon, jet aircraft, and other air transportation reach their maximum operational altitude in this layer.

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Mesosphere

The mesosphere locates above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere. The separation layer between the stratosphere and mesosphere is known as stratopause. On the other hand, the layer between the mesosphere and thermosphere is known as menopause. It is the third layer of the atmosphere.

mesosphere layers of the atmosphere
mesosphere layers of the atmosphere

Range

The layers range from 50 km starting from the stratopause to 90 km ending at mesopause.

Temperature

The temperature decreases with the increase of the height due to decreasing absorption of solar radiation. The coldest temperature of the atmosphere prevails near the mesopause that is around -90°c.

Cloud formation

The noctilucent cloud or polar mesospheric cloud form in this layer due to the sublimation of water vapour triggered by the cold temperature and it is the highest cloud.

Meteor facts:

Most of the meteors entering in this layer ended up by burning or vaporizing. Some materials of the meteor prevail for a long time in mesosphere and the fragmented parts of meteors increase the concentration of iron and other atoms of metals.

Waves and tides

The different types of wave and tide influence the mesosphere. The wave and tide transports energy from the troposphere and the stratosphere to the mesosphere in order to blow the energy in global circulation

Thermosphere

The thermosphere is the fourth layer of the atmosphere. The layer lies above the mesosphere but below the exosphere. The layer starts from mesopause the separation between mesosphere and thermosphere and ends at thermopause separation between thermosphere and exosphere.

Range

The layer extends from 90 km to between 500 km to 1000 km.

Temperature

With the increase of the height the temperature increases in this layer due to the absorption of energetic ultraviolet ray and the ray of the sun. The temperature of upper remains as 500°c and it can raise up to 2500°c as the molecules are quite far away from each other. Do you do what is the difference between Heat and Temperature??? you will check here the difference between Heat and Temperature.

Weather fact

The cloud does not form in the thermosphere because there is no presence of the water vapour in this layer.

Aurora

Generally the aurora form in these layers. The Northern lights and the Southern form due to the collision of charged particles with the atoms and molecules at the high latitude and trigger into the higher energy state. Further, the higher energy emits the colourful light known as Aurora from the photon.

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Exosphere

A fifth of the atmosphere is the exosphere. The layer has been separated by thermopause separation between thermosphere and exosphere. It is also considered as part of outer space or interplanetary.

Range

The layer extends from 700 km to 10000km.

Movement of particles

The molecules remain far apart from each other in the exosphere. The particles can move freely in this layer without colliding with one another. The free moving particles move like ballistic trajectories and it may also migrate in or out from the magnetosphere.

Composition

The layer contains extremely low densities of helium and hydrogen along with the heavier molecules like carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and oxygen.

Read more: Difference between Cation and Anion

More facts

Ionosphere

The ionosphere includes the thermosphere and the partial part of the mesosphere and exosphere. The layer extends from about 60 km to 10000 km. The neutrosphere lies below the ionosphere. The layer contains charged atom and molecules due to the collision triggered by ultraviolet and high energy ray. The ionosphere has 3 regions and they are D layer, F layer, and E layer.

Magnetosphere

The earth contains proton and electron into two bands ranging from 3000 km to 16000 km.  The charge particles spiral along the magnetic field known as the magnetosphere.

After the generalized discussion, it is seen that the different layer has a different kind of properties. There are also some similarities with the different types of layer.

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