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Total atmospheric mass is 5.1480 × 10 18 kg (1.13494 × 10 19 lb), [36] about 2.5% less than would be inferred from the average sea-level pressure and Earth's area of 51007.2 megahectares, this portion being displaced by Earth's mountainous terrain. Atmospheric pressure is the total weight of the air above unit area at the point where the ...
The atmosphere is 21% oxygen by volume, which equates to a total of roughly 34 × 10 18 mol of oxygen. [2] Other oxygen-containing molecules in the atmosphere include ozone (O 3), carbon dioxide (CO 2), water vapor (H 2 O), and sulphur and nitrogen oxides (SO 2, NO, N 2 O, etc.).
An atmosphere (from Ancient Greek ἀτμός (atmós) 'vapour, steam' and σφαῖρα (sphaîra) 'sphere') [1] is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low.
The homosphere is the layer of an atmosphere where the bulk gases are homogeneously mixed due to turbulent mixing or eddy diffusion. The bulk composition of the air is mostly uniform so the concentrations of molecules are the same throughout the homosphere. The top of the homosphere is called the homopause, also known as the turbopause.
The density of the Earth's atmosphere decreases nearly exponentially with altitude. The total mass of the atmosphere is M = ρ A H ≃ 1 kg/cm 2 within a column of one square centimeter above the ground (with ρ A = 1.29 kg/m 3 the atmospheric density on the ground at z = 0 m altitude, and H ≃ 8 km the average atmospheric scale height).
The thermal wind is the difference in the geostrophic wind between two levels in the atmosphere. It exists only in an atmosphere with horizontal temperature gradients. [5] The ageostrophic wind component is the difference between actual and geostrophic wind, which is responsible for air "filling up" cyclones over time. [6]
Out of an average 340 watts per square meter (W/m 2) of solar irradiance at the top of the atmosphere, about 200 W/m 2 reaches the surface via windows, mostly the optical and infrared. Also, out of about 340 W/m 2 of reflected shortwave (105 W/m 2 ) plus outgoing longwave radiation (235 W/m 2 ), 80-100 W/m 2 exits to space through the infrared ...
Atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, chemical models, radiation balancing, and energy transfer processes in the atmosphere and underlying oceans and land.