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The gas layers of the troposphere are less dense at the geographic poles and denser at the equator, where the average height of the tropical troposphere is 13 km, approximately 7.0 km greater than the 6.0 km average height of the polar troposphere at the geographic poles; therefore, surplus heating and vertical expansion of the troposphere ...
The troposphere is denser than all its overlying layers because a larger atmospheric weight sits on top of the troposphere and causes it to be most severely compressed. Fifty percent of the total mass of the atmosphere is located in the lower 5.6 km (3.5 mi; 18,000 ft) of the troposphere.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere; it starts at the planetary boundary layer, and is the layer in which most weather phenomena occur. The troposphere contains the boundary layer, and ranges in height from an average of 9 km (5.6 mi; 30,000 ft) at the poles, to 17 km (11 mi; 56,000 ft) at the Equator.
Idealised depiction (at equinox) of large-scale atmospheric circulation on Earth Long-term mean precipitation by month. Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth.
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents in the Earth's atmosphere. [1]The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the globe.
Strengthening storm systems within the troposphere that cool the poles, intensify the polar vortex. La Niña –related climate anomalies significantly strengthen the polar vortex. [ 28 ] Intensification of the polar vortex produces changes in relative humidity as downward intrusions of dry, stratospheric air enter the vortex core.
Usually, within the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) the air near the surface of the Earth is warmer than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below as solar radiation warms the Earth's surface, which in turn then warms the layer of the atmosphere directly above it, e.g., by thermals (convective heat transfer). [3]
The largest-amplitude atmospheric tides are mostly generated in the troposphere and stratosphere when the atmosphere is periodically heated, as water vapor and ozone absorb solar radiation during the day. These tides propagate away from the source regions and ascend into the mesosphere and thermosphere.