1. Atmosphere - layer of gases that surrounds a planet or moon held by gravity (ocean of air)

2. Composition Atmosphere is a Mixture of changes by time and place Gases
Dust
Water vapor
clouds and precipitation (rain)
Absorbs heat and energy from the sun
changes by time and place

3. Ozone (O3) – very rare and less stable type of oxygen molecule that combines 3 atoms of oxygen
Thin layer is found in the Stratosphere
3 ozone for every 10,000,000 air molecules
Protects living things from harmful UV sun rays
Manmade chemicals destroy ozone. Humans have thinned the layer above the Antarctic

4. Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - naturally occurring gas in our atmosphere
Needed for photosynthesis to occur during the Carbon Cycle
(photosynthesis) -plants take in (CO2), solar energy, and water and produce carbohydrate energy (sugars) and Oxygen

5. Water Vapor - water in the atmosphere
Key to understanding atmosphere processes
Water vapor is the source of all precipitation
Examples
Clouds
Fog
Rain
Snow
Sleet
hail

6. Changing state of matter
changing matter requires energy is transferred in the form of heat
Latent heat – heat used doesn’t cause temperature change

7. How water changes states of matter in the atmosphere
All water passes through the atmosphere as water vapor
Water changes from one state of matter to another
Solid to liquid
Liquid to gas
Solid to gas

8. Greenhouse Effect – The warming of Earths surface and lower atmosphere when carbon dioxide, water vapor and other gases absorb and reradiate (heat) energy

9. The atmosphere is divided into 4 main layers by temperature
Troposphere (bottom layer)
Stratosphere (where important weather occur)
Mesosphere
Thermosphere (top layer)
It generally gets colder as altitude increases
Layers of the atmosphere are divided by temperature and height

10. Layers of the atmosphere

11. Weather – the state of the atmosphere at any given time and place
Climate – average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time

12. Earth-Sun relationship
Almost all energy that causes Earth’s weather and climate comes from the sun
Unequal heating of Earth causes weather

13. Heat transfer Heat transfers in 3 ways
Conduction – transfer of heat through molecular activity (high to low temp)
Convection – transfer of heat by mass movement or circulation within something
Radiation – transfer of heat in all directions
Heat transfer

14. Solar radiation – when radiation strikes an object, 3 things happen
Energy is absorbed by the object
Energy is transmitted and doesn’t add to the object
Energy is reflected or bounced off the object

15. Reflection – when light bounces off an object
Scattering – when a large number of weaker rays are produced traveling in different direction

16. Other factors that influence energy coming into the atmosphere
Earth’s rotation – spinning
Earth’s revolution – orbit around sun
Earth’s orientation – how Earth is tilted on it’s axis in relation to the sun

17. Humidity – the amount of water vapor in the air
Relative humidity – the amount of water in the atmosphere. % of how much the air can hold
Saturation – when the atmosphere has reached it’s maximum amount of water vapor it can hold at a temperature and pressure

18. Dew point
The temperature when water vapor in the air condenses (changes) into a liquid from a gas

19. Cloud Formation As air rises in the atmosphere it expands and cools
When air reaches it’s dew point, clouds begin to form

20. Air compression When air pressure increases, air temperature rises
Motion of the gas molecules increases
When air pressure decreases, air expands and temperature cools
Motion of the gas molecules slows

21. Orographic Lifting
when air is forced to rise and cool due to terrain features such as hills or mountains

22. Frontal Wedging
When cold dense air acts as a barrier and causes warmer, less dense air to rise

23. Convergence
When air masses flow together from more than 1 direction, air rises.
Low pressure is the result

24. Localized convective heating
Unequal heating of Earth’s surface causes pockets of air to be warmed more than surrounding air
Causes pockets of air to rise, forming thermals

25. Clouds – 3 basic types are classified on form and height
Cirrus
Cumulus
Stratus

26. High Clouds cirrus cirrostratus cirrocumulus Thin and white
Low precipitation
May warn of approaching stormy weather
cirrocumulus

27. Middle Clouds - alto altocumulus Altocumulus – large and dense
Altostratus – white or gray sheet covering sky
Cumulonimbus -
Infrequent light snow or drizzle
altocumulus

28. Low clouds Stratocumulus Stratus – fog like layer covering sky
- Occasionally produce light precipitation
Stratocumulus – rainy clouds
Nimbostratus – main precipitation maker
Cumulus - clouds with vertical development
Stratocumulus

29. Fog – cloud with base at or near the ground
Form by
Cooling – air over a cold surface
Evaporation – when cool air moves over warm water (steaming)

30. How precipitation forms
Tiny cloud droplets grow in volume by about 1,000,000 times.

31. Cold cloud precipitation
Ice crystals contact with cloud droplets causing them to freeze
Causes ice to grow into snowflakes
Rain often begins as snow high in the clouds

32. Warm cloud precipitation
Large droplets moving through the clouds collide and join (coalesce) with smaller droplets

33. The type of precipitation that reaches Earth’s surface depends on temperature in the lower atmosphere
Rain
Snow
Sleet
Glaze
Hail

34. Atmosphere key ideas
Earth’s atmosphere is made up of a combination of gases. The major components of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon remain constant over time and space, while trace components like CO2 and water vapor vary considerably over both space and time.
The atmosphere is divided into the thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere
boundaries between these layers are defined by changes in temperature and height
Pressure decreases exponentially with altitude in the atmosphere.
Our knowledge about the atmosphere has developed based on data from a variety of sources, including direct measurements from balloons and aircraft as well as remote measurements from satellites.