atmosphere

Properties of Standard Atmosphere

ATMOSPHERE
PROPERTIES

Physical Properties of Standard Atmosphere in SI Units

Altitude Temperature Pressure Density Viscosity
(meters) (K) (Pa) (kg/m3) (N-s/m2)

-5,000 320.7 1.778E+5 1.931 1.942E-5

-4,000 314.2 1.596E+5 1.770 1.912E-5
-3,000 307.7 1.430E+5 1.619 1.882E-5
-2,000 301.2 1.278E+5 1.478 1.852E-5
-1,000 294.7 1.139E+5 1.347 1.821E-5
0 288.2 1.013E+5 1.225 1.789E-5
1,000 281.7 8.988E+4 1.112 1.758E-5
2,000 275.2 7.950E+4 1.007 1.726E-5
3,000 268.7 7.012E+4 9.093E-1 1.694E-5
4,000 262.2 6.166E+4 8.194E-1 1.661E-5
5,000 255.7 5.405E+4 7.364E-1 1.628E-5
6,000 249.2 4.722E+4 6.601E-1 1.595E-5
7,000 242.7 4.111E+4 5.900E-1 1.561E-5
8,000 236.2 3.565E+4 5.258E-1 1.527E-5
9,000 229.7 3.080E+4 4.671E-1 1.493E-5
10,000 223.3 2.650E+4 4.135E-1 1.458E-5
15,000 216.7 1.211E+4 1.948E-1 1.422E-5
20,000 216.7 5.529E+3 8.891E-2 1.422E-5
30,000 226.5 1.197E+3 1.841E-2 1.475E-5
40,000 250.4 2.871E+2 3.996E-3 1.601E-5
50,000 270.7 7.978E+1 1.027E-3 1.704E-5
60,000 255.8 2.246E+1 3.059E-4 1.629E-5
70,000 219.7 5.520 8.754E-5 1.438E-5
80,000 180.7 1.037 1.999E-5 1.216E-5
90,000 180.7 1.644E-1 3.170E-6 1.216E-5
Atmospheric Scale Height & Density, to 35,786
km
Atmospheric Density
Altitude Scale Height
Mean Maximum
(km) (km)
(kg/m3) (kg/m3)

0 8.4 1.225 1.225

100 5.9 5.25E-7 5.75E-7
150 25.5 1.73E-9 1.99E-9
200 37.5 2.41E-10 3.65E-10
250 44.8 5.97E-11 1.20E-10
300 50.3 1.87E-11 4.84E-11
350 54.8 6.66E-12 2.18E-11
400 58.2 2.62E-12 1.05E-11
450 61.3 1.09E-12 5.35E-12
500 64.5 4.76E-13 2.82E-12
550 68.7 2.14E-13 1.53E-12
600 74.8 9.89E-14 8.46E-13
650 84.4 4.73E-14 4.77E-13
700 99.3 2.36E-14 2.73E-13
750 121 1.24E-14 1.59E-13
800 151 6.95E-15 9.41E-14
850 188 4.22E-15 5.67E-14
900 226 2.78E-15 3.49E-14
950 263 1.98E-15 2.21E-14
1,000 296 1.49E-15 1.43E-14
1,250 408 5.70E-16 2.82E-15
1,500 516 2.79E-16 1.16E-15
2,000 829 9.09E-17 3.80E-16
2,500 1220 4.23E-17 1.54E-16
3,000 1590 2.54E-17 7.09E-17
3,500 1900 1.77E-17 3.67E-17
4,000 2180 1.34E-17 2.11E-17
4,500 2430 1.06E-17 1.34E-17
5,000 2690 8.62E-18 9.30E-18
6,000 3200 6.09E-18 5.41E-18
7,000 3750 4.56E-18 3.74E-18
8,000 4340 3.56E-18 2.87E-18
9,000 4970 2.87E-18 2.34E-18
10,000 5630 2.37E-18 1.98E-18
15,000 9600 1.21E-18 1.16E-18
20,000 14600 7.92E-19 8.42E-19
25,000 20700 5.95E-19 6.81E-19
30,000 27800 4.83E-19 5.84E-19
 35,000 36000 4.13E-19 5.21E-19
35,786 37300 4.04E-19 5.12E-19

Physical Properties of Standard Atmosphere in U.S. Units

Altitude Temperature Pressure Density Viscosity
(feet) (degrees R) (psia) (slug/ft3) (lb-s/ft2)

-15,000 572.2 24.626 3.610E-3 4.031E-7

-10,000 554.3 20.847 3.155E-3 3.935E-7
-5,000 536.5 17.554 2.745E-3 3.835E-7
0 518.7 14.696 2.377E-3 3.736E-7
5,000 500.8 12.054 2.048E-3 3.636E-7
10,000 483.0 10.108 1.756E-3 3.534E-7
15,000 465.2 8.297 1.496E-3 3.431E-7
20,000 447.4 6.759 1.267E-3 3.326E-7
25,000 429.6 5.461 1.066E-3 3.217E-7
30,000 411.8 4.373 8.907E-4 3.107E-7
35,000 394.1 3.468 7.382E-4 2.995E-7
40,000 390.0 2.730 5.873E-4 2.969E-7
45,000 390.0 2.149 4.623E-4 2.969E-7
50,000 390.0 1.692 3.639E-4 2.969E-7
55,000 390.0 1.332 2.865E-4 2.969E-7
60,000 390.0 1.049 2.256E-4 2.969E-7
65,000 390.0 0.826 1.777E-4 2.969E-7
70,000 392.2 0.651 1.392E-4 2.983E-7
75,000 395.0 0.514 1.091E-4 3.001E-7
80,000 397.7 0.406 8.571E-5 3.018E-7
85,000 400.4 0.322 6.743E-5 3.035E-7
90,000 403.1 0.255 5.315E-5 3.052E-7
95,000 405.8 0.203 4.196E-5 3.070E-7
100,000 408.6 0.162 3.318E-5 3.087E-7
150,000 479.1 0.020 3.456E-6 3.512E-7
200,000 457.0 0.003 5.270E-7 3.382E-7
250,000 351.8 0.000 7.034E-8 2.721E-7
300,000 332.9 0.000 4.625E-9 2.593E-7

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 Structure
The Structure of the Atmosphere

Structure of the Earth's Atmosphere The Atmosphere is divided into

The Atmosphere layers according to major
changes in temperature. Gravity
pushes the layers of air down
What is the atmosphere? on the earth's surface. This
push is called air pressure. 99%
of the total mass of the
It's a thin layer of gases surrounding our planet. Many
atmosphere of the
is below 32
kilometers.
planets in this solar system have atmospheres, but none that we
know of have an atmosphere quite like ours - one Troposphere
that can - 0 to 12
support life. km - Contains 75% of
the gases in the
atmosphere. This is
The atmosphere is held to the planet by the force of gravity,
where youwhich
live and also
where weather occurs.
determines what gases are present in it. As height increases,
temperature decreases.
As we learned last lecture, the Earth's primitive atmosphere was much
The temperature drops
about 6.5 degrees
different from today's and consisted primarily of ammonia, methane,
Celsius for every and
trace amounts of carbon dioxide and water vapor. There wasabove
kilometer little,
the if any,
earth's surface.
free oxygen present.
• Tropopause -
The atmosphere decrease in concentration, and hence pressure,
located atastheyou
top of the
rise above the surface of the earth. troposhere. The
temperature
remains fairly
constant here.
Altitude Percent sea This layer
(km) level pressure separates the
troposphere
0 100 from the
stratosphere. We
5.6 50 find the jet
16.2 10 stream here.
These are very
31.2 1 strong winds
that blow
48.1 0.1 eastward.
65.1 0.01
79.2 0.001 Stratosphere - 12 to 50
km - in the lower part of
100 0.00003 the stratosphere. The
temperature remains
fairly constant (-60
degrees Celsius). This
layer contains the ozone
layer. Ozone acts as a
shield for in the earth's
surface. It absorbs
ultraviolet radiation from
the sun. This causes a
temperature increase in
(Figure 1-17, page 18 in Lutgens and Tarbuck's The Atmosphere, 2001) Pressure variations
caused by altitude

The earth's outermost atmosphere, the part above a few hundred

kilometers, is a region of extremely low density. Near sea level, the
number of atoms and molecules in a cubic centimeter of air is about
2x1019; near 600 km it is only about 2x107, which is the sea level value
divided by a million million. At sea level, an atom or molecule can be
expected, on the average, to move about 7x10-6 cm before colliding with
another particle; at the 600 km level this distance, called the "mean free
path," is about 10 km. Near sea level, an atom or molecule, on the
average, undergoes about 7x109 such collisions each second; near 600
km, this number is about 1 each minute.

Not only does the pressure change with altitude, but temperature does as
well.

This is easily seen by looking at the snow covered Rocky Mountains or

Alps in the summer time. In Denver, it can be 95°F while on Pikes Peak
there is still snow.

Originally, scientists thought that temperature decreased continuously

with increasing height until reaching absolute zero (-273.16°C). This
decrease of temperature with increasing altitude is known as the
environmental lapse rate and is approximately 6.5°C/1000 m
(3.5°F/1000'). In the figure below, the environmental lapse rate can be
seen graphically as the decrease in temperature with increasing height.
This environmental lapse rate is observed until the tropopause is reached.

(Figure 1-20, page 21 in Lutgens and Tarbuck's The Atmosphere, 2001) Observed lapse rate
and the tropopause

Vertical structure of the atmosphere

(Figure 1-19, p. 20 in Lutgens and Tarbuck's The Atmosphere, 2001) Thermal structure of
the atmosphere
But after many balloons flights and temperature measurements, we know
that's not the case. The atmosphere can be divided into four regions.

The bottom layer, where temperature decreases with altitude, is known as

the troposphere (from the Greek for "turning layer"). The troposphere is
approximately 12 kilometers thick, but there are slight variations. If the
temperature increases with increasing altitude in the troposphere, then a
temperature inversion exists. All the weather that we are primarily
interested in, occurs in the troposphere. The top of the troposphere is
marked by the tropopause.

Above the tropopause lies the stratosphere. It gets it's name from the
Greek meaning "stratified layer." The layer is stratified with the denser,
cooler air below the warmer, lighter air. This leads to an increase in
temperature with height. Since the stratosphere isn't turbulent this is
where most planes like to fly. The temperature increases with height until
it reaches about 10°C at an altitude of 48 km. The primary reason that
there is a temperature increase with altitude is that most of the ozone is
contained in the stratosphere. Ultraviolet light interacting with the ozone
causes the temperature increase. The boundary between the
stratosphere and the next layer is called the stratopause.

Above the stratopause, the temperature again decreases with altitude.

This layer is called the mesosphere, or "middle layer." The temperature
drops to ~-90°C near the top of the mesosphere where the mesopause is
located.

Above the mesopause is the thermosphere, or "warm layer." In the

thermosphere the temperature does increase with height (to >1000°C),
but as we have already seen, the number of molecules present are so few
that even thought they are very energetic, they have such a low density,
that temperature as we call it means very little.

Above the thermosphere lies the exosphere ("outer layer"). The boundary
between the two is very diffuse. Molecules in the exosphere have enough
kinetic energy to escape the earth's gravity and thus fly off into space.
This is where helium "disappears."

The outer part of the mesosphere and the thermosphere are sometimes
called the ionosphere since most of the molecules and atoms are ionized
by the ultraviolet light and other high energy particles at this height. The
ionosphere is what radio signals bounce off.

Vertical Composition
The atmosphere also change composition with height and can be divided
into two layers. The lower layer is called the homosphere and has the
composition we talked about earlier. It's top is approximately the
mesopause.

Above the homosphere lies the heterosphere, a layer in which the gases
are stratified into four shells. The lowermost shell is dominated by
molecular nitrogen (N2); next, a layer of atomic oxygen (O) is
encountered, followed by a layer dominated by helium atoms (He), and
finally, a layer consisting of hydrogen atoms (H).

The Ionosphere

The ionosphere lies from about 80-400 km in height and is electrically

charged as short wave solar radiation ionizes the gas molecules. The
electrical structure of the atmosphere is not uniform and is arranged into
three layers, D, E, and F. Since the production of charged particles
requires solar radiation, the thickness of each layer, particularly the D and
E layers, changes from night to day. The layers weaken and disappear at
night and reappear during the day. The F layer is present during both day
and night. This change in height of the various electrically charged layers
doesn't effect the weather, but does effect radio signals.

The auroras also take place in the ionosphere since this is the electrically
charged layer. The aurora borealis (northern lights) and aurora australis
(southern lights) is closely correlated to solar flare activity.