ATMOSPHERE: COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION
 A thick gaseous envelope which surrounds the earth from all sides and is attached to
the earth's surface by gravitational force is called “Atmosphere”.
 Atmosphere is a physical mixture of atmospheric gases, water vapour and
suspended particulates.
 Besides providing all necessary gases for the sustenance of all life forms in the
biosphere, it also filters the incoming solar radiation and thus prevents the
ultraviolet solar radiation waves to reach the earth's surface.
 The height of the atmosphere is estimated between 16 to 29 thousand kilometres
from the sea level.
 It is estimated that 97 per cent of the effective atmosphere is up to the height of 29
km. But with increasing altitude, density of atmosphere decreases.

COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

Gases-

 There are only few gases which are found in abundance in the earth’s atmosphere.
 Nitrogen tops the rank followed by Oxygen in terms of their percentage in total
volume of air.
 A chart is given:

The major gases, their percentage shares have been given in the following points:

 Nitrogen maximum in terms of percentage share in the total volume of atmospheric

gases does not enter easily into chemical union with other substances and can be
thought of mainly as a neutral substance.
 Oxygen in contrast to nitrogen is chemically very active. It reacts and combines
readily with other elements in the process of oxidation and in other processes.
Oxygen is also essential for combustion of burning matter.
  Argon is the 0.93 percent of total volume of dry air. It is an inactive gas and that’s
why it has little importance in natural process. It is also chemically inert.
 Carbon dioxide (C02), amounting to about 0.03 percent. Carbon dioxide is used by
green plants for photosynthesis. This gas has a great importance in various
atmospheric processes because of its ability to absorb radiant heat passing through
the atmosphere from the earth.
 Thus, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, increases the temperature of the lower
atmosphere and the earth's surface. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere is gradually increasing due to burning of fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and
natural gas) and deforestation.
 These compositions of gases remain constant at least in the lower part of
atmosphere, all over the earth and at every time.
 Things which make the atmospheric composition vary are the presence of other
components like water vapour, dust, smoke, salt etc.

Water vapour-

 The atmospheric vapour is received through the evaporation of moisture and water
from the water bodies (like seas and oceans, lakes, tanks and ponds, rivers etc.),
vegetation and soil covers.
 Distribution of water vapour drastically varies region to region (horizontally and
vertically both) in the atmosphere.
 If we study the general pattern of the distribution of water vapour in atmosphere,
we notice that-
o It decreases with increasing altitude. Around 50 percent of water vapour is
found below an altitude of 2 kilometres only. More than 90 per cent of the
total atmospheric vapour is found up to the height of 5 km.
o In general water vapour decreases with increasing distance from equator
also. In tropical areas it can reach up to 4 percent of total volume of air
where as in dry and desert areas (either cold or hot) it can fall below 1
percent of total volume of air.
 Water vapour, present in atmosphere, plays number of important role which
includes-
1. The moisture content in the atmosphere creates several forms of condensation
and precipitation e.g. clouds, fogs, dew, rainfall, frost, hailstorm, ice, snowfall
etc.
2. Vapour is almost transparent for incoming shortwave solar radiation but vapour
is less transparent for outgoing shortwave terrestrial radiation and therefore it
helps in heating the earth's surface.
3. Releases latent heat which leads to the stability or instability of atmosphere also
to some extent.
Particulate Matter-

 The solid particles present in the atmosphere include dust particles, salt particles,
pollen, smoke and soot, volcanic ashes etc.
 Most of the solid particles are kept in suspension in the atmosphere. These are
minor but important part of atmosphere especially from meteorological standpoint
as they act as an ‘’hygroscopic nuclei’’.
 Distribution of dust particle is also uneven-
o In equatorial and polar atmosphere, their presence is less as in equatorial
region high rainfall brings them down on the surface and in polar areas
surface remains frozen that’s why wind is unable to blow them up.
o In sub-tropical and temperate regions, presence of dust particle is good
enough due to windy, dry weather conditions.

STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE
Structure of atmosphere represents vertical arrangement of atmospheric gases. These
layers are further identified on the basis of their chemical properties and physical
properties. On this basis, structure of atmosphere is studied in two ways:

1. Chemical Structure: On the basis of composition of gases

2. Physical Structure: On the basis of temperature(more relevant to exam)

CHEMICAL STRUCTURE
On the basis of composition of gases only, the atmosphere may be divided into two parts-

1. Homosphere, and
2. Heterosphere

Homosphere

 The Homosphere extends from the Mean Sea Level to an altitude of 80 km.
 Speciality of this layer is that the blend of gases is nearly uniform throughout the
homosphere.
 In this layer only the ‘ozone layer’ is found from 19-50 km. The main constituent
gases are oxygen (20.946%) and nitrogen (78.084%). Other gases are argon, carbon
dioxide, neon, helium, krypton, xenon, hydrogen etc.
 On the basis of thermal conditions the homosphere has been divided into three
layers viz.
1. Troposphere
2. Stratosphere
3. Mesosphere.
Heterosphere

 The Heterosphere begins at the altitude of 80 km from MSL and extends upward up
to 10,000 km.
 However, for all the practical reasons, most of the meteorologists consider the top of
the atmosphere at around 480 km. This is the altitude which is taken to measure
‘’Solar Constant’’.

*(The solar constant is the amount of energy that normally falls on a unit area (1-m2) of
the earth's atmosphere per second when the earth is at its mean distance from the sun.
Value of the solar constant is found experimentally to be 1.35 kW m-2).

 In Heterosphere layer, the gases aren’t evenly mixed.

 In higher layers hydrogen and helium are found and in lower layers other heavier
gases like nitrogen and nascent oxygen are found.
 There are four distinct layers of gases in this sphere,
1. Molecular nitrogen layer is dominated by molecular nitrogen and extends
upward up to the height of 200 km (90 to 200 km),
2. Atomic oxygen layer extends from 200 to 1100 km.
3. Further upward, there is helium layer which extends up to the height of 3500km.
4. Atomic hydrogen layer is the topmost layer of the atmosphere and extends upto
the outermost limit of the atmosphere.
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE

 The gaseous area surrounding the planet is divided into several concentric strata or
layers.
 The physical structure is identified on the basis of temperature of atmospheric
layers, inter-relationship between altitude and temperature and density of
atmospheric layers.
 Hence, atmospheric layers are accordingly classified into two categories viz.
1. Major Layers
2. Transitional Layers
 Major layer of atmosphere include troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and
thermosphere.
 In troposphere and mesosphere, temperature declines with increasing altitude.
 In stratosphere and thermosphere, temperature increases with increasing altitude.

 Transitional layers of atmosphere include tropospause, stratopause, and

mesopause.
o These layers are relatively thin and are located between major layers of
atmosphere. These have contrasting thermal properties.
o Hence, in these layers there is no change in temperature with change in
altitude.
o On that basis, these layers are also known as isothermal layers.
*Hidden distance-Transitional layers

Troposphere

 The troposphere is the atmospheric layer closest to the Mean Sea Level and contains
the largest percentage (around 80%) of the mass of the total atmosphere.
 Temperature and water vapour content in the troposphere decrease rapidly with
altitude. Temperature decreases with increasing height at the rate of 6.5°C per
1000m. This rate of decrease of temperature is called normal lapse rate or
environmental lapse rate.
 Water vapour plays a major role in regulating air temperature because it absorbs
solar energy and thermal radiation from the planet’s surface.
 All weather phenomena like cloud formation, cyclone formation, rainfall etc. occur
within the troposphere, although turbulence may extend into the lower portion of
the stratosphere.
 Troposphere means "region of mixing" and is so named because of vigorous
convective air currents within the layer. Because of turbulence, this layer is not
suitable for air transport.
  The upper boundary of the layer, known as the Tropospause, ranges in height from 8
km near the poles up to 18 km above the equator. This variation in height is due to
differential convection at equator and poles.
 There is higher extent of convection at equator compared to that at poles. Its height
also varies with the seasons; highest in the summer, due to maximum convection,
and lowest in the winter.

Stratosphere

 The stratosphere is the second major strata of air in the atmosphere.

 It extends above the Tropospause to an altitude of about 50 km above the Mean Sea
Level. The air temperature in the stratosphere remains relatively constant up to an
altitude of 25 km. Then it increases gradually up to the Stratopause.
 Because, the air temperature in the stratosphere increases with altitude, it does
not cause convection and hence this layer is stratified, hence the name stratosphere.
Thus, this layer lacks turbulence and therefore becomes suitable for air transport.
 Ozone plays the major role in regulating the thermal regime of the stratosphere, as
water vapour content within the layer is very low. Temperature increases with
ozone concentration.
 Solar energy is converted to kinetic energy when ozone molecules absorb ultraviolet
radiation, resulting in heating of the stratosphere.

 The ozone layer is found at an altitude between 15-25 km and approximately 90 % of

the ozone in the atmosphere resides in the stratosphere.
 Ozone concentration in this region is about 10 parts per million by volume (ppmv)
as compared to approximately 0.04 ppmv in the troposphere.
  Ozone absorbs the bulk of solar ultraviolet radiation in wavelengths from 290 nm -
320 nm (UV-B radiation). These wavelengths are harmful to life because they can be
absorbed by the nucleic acid in cells.
 Increased penetration of ultraviolet radiation to the planet’s surface would damage
plant life and have harmful environmental consequences.
 Appreciably large amounts of solar ultraviolet radiation would result in a host of
biological effects, such as a dramatic increase in cancers

Mesosphere

 The mesosphere is a layer extending from approximately 50 to 80 km above the MSL

and is characterized by decreasing temperatures with increasing altitude. The
coldest temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere occur at the top of this layer, the
Mesopause, especially in the summer near the pole.

Thermosphere

 It extends above 90 km from MSL. Based on the vertical temperature profile in the
atmosphere, the thermosphere is the highest layer, located above the Mesosphere.
While in the troposphere and the mesosphere, the temperature decreases with
altitude.
 In the stratosphere and thermosphere the temperature increases with height (called
temperature inversion).
 It is separated from the mesosphere by the Mesopause, in which the temperature
does not change much vertically.
 Above the thermosphere, the upper limit of the atmosphere, the exosphere can be
found blending into space.
 Because there are relatively few molecules and atoms in the thermosphere, even
absorbing small amounts of solar energy can significantly increase the air
temperature, making the thermosphere the hottest layer in the atmosphere.
 Above 200 km, the temperature becomes independent of altitude.
 Thermosphere is divided into two layers viz.
1. ionosphere, and
2. exosphere.

Ionosphere
The ionosphere is defined by atmospheric effects on radio wave propagation as a result of
the presence and variation in concentration of free electrons in the atmosphere. This layer
is used for radio transmission. It has many layers-
 1. D-region is about 60 - 90 km in altitude but disappears at night.
2. E-region is about 90 - 140 km in altitude.
3. F-region is above 140 km in altitude.

During the day it has two regions known as the

1. F1 -region from about 140 to 180 km altitude and

2. F2 -region in which the concentration of electrons peaks in the altitude range of
around 250 to 500 km.

Exosphere

 The exosphere is the most distant atmospheric region from Earth’s surface, MSL. In
the exosphere, an upward travelling molecule can escape to space (if it is moving
fast enough) or be pulled back to Earth by gravity (if it isn’t) with little probability of
colliding with another molecule. The altitude of its lower boundary, known as the
Thermopause ranges from about 250-500 km depending on solar activity.
 In conclusion, troposphere, tropospause, stratosphere, stratopause, mesosphere
and mesopause are part of homosphere.
 Thermosphere and related ionosphere and exosphere are part of Heterosphere.






 o

o
 o











 

क्षोभ मंडल के शीषष पर तापमान भूमध्य रे खा के ऊपर न्यूनतम

और ध्रुवों के ऊपर अधिकतम होता है।








