Atmospheric sciences

Atmospheric sciences is an umbrella term for the study ciplinary eld of research and draws on environmen-
of the Earths atmosphere, its processes, the eects other tal chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer modeling,
systems have on the atmosphere, and the eects of the at- oceanography, geology and volcanology and other disci-
mosphere on these other systems. Meteorology includes plines. Research is increasingly connected with other ar-
atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a eas of study such as climatology.
major focus on weather forecasting. Climatology is the The composition and chemistry of the atmosphere is of
study of atmospheric changes (both long and short-term) importance for several reasons, but primarily because of
that dene average climates and their change over time, the interactions between the atmosphere and living or-
due to both natural and anthropogenic climate variabil- ganisms. The composition of the Earths atmosphere
ity. Aeronomy is the study of the upper layers of the at- has been changed by human activity and some of these
mosphere, where dissociation and ionization are impor- changes are harmful to human health, crops and ecosys-
tant. Atmospheric science has been extended to the eld tems. Examples of problems which have been addressed
of planetary science and the study of the atmospheres of by atmospheric chemistry include acid rain, photochem-
the planets of the solar system. ical smog and global warming. Atmospheric chemistry
Experimental instruments used in atmospheric sciences seeks to understand the causes of these problems, and by
include satellites, rocketsondes, radiosondes, weather bal- obtaining a theoretical understanding of them, allow pos-
loons, and lasers. sible solutions to be tested and the eects of changes in
The term aerology (from Greek , ar, "air"; and - government policy evaluated.
, -logia) is sometimes used as an alternative term
for the study of Earths atmosphere. Early pioneers in the
eld include Lon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Ass- 2 Atmospheric dynamics
mann.[1]
See also: Synoptic scale meteorology

1 Atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric dynamics involves the study of observations

and theory dealing with all motion systems of meteo-
Water vapor CHEMICAL
rological importance. Common topics studied include
Halocarbons
CFCs TRANSFORMATION
STRATOSPHERE
diverse phenomena such as thunderstorms, tornadoes,
O3 destruction

Aircraft emissions
gravity waves, tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones,
TROPOSPHERE
(NOx, Black Carbon, Sulfate)
jet streams, and global-scale circulations. The goal of dy-
LO N G - RA N G E T RA N S P O RT O F A E R O S O L S A N D G A S E S
namical studies is to explain the observed circulations on
CHEMICAL CHEMICAL
TRANSFORMATION TRANSFORMATION
the basis of fundamental principles from physics. The
O3 production O3 production
objectives of such studies incorporate improving weather
Natural and
forecasting, developing methods for predicting seasonal
FREE
enthropogenic emissions
from the Earth
(CH4, CO, CO2,
VOCs, Sulfate, Black
CHEMICAL
TRANSFORMATION
TROPOSPHERE and interannual climate uctuations, and understanding
AND

Cities
Carbon, Dust, N2O,
CFCs, NOx, O3) Evaporation
and Convection
BOUNDARY
LAYER the implications of human-induced perturbations (e.g.,
Sulfur
Industry DEPOSITION emissions
OF
POLLUTANTS from oceans
increased carbon dioxide concentrations or depletion of
the ozone layer) on the global climate.[2]
Forests and other
Ecosystems
Transportation

Agriculture Transportation

Cattle
Oceans
Desert

3 Atmospheric physics
dust
Biomass
Burning

Main article: Atmospheric physics

Main article: Atmospheric chemistry
Atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the
Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric sci- study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt
ence in which the chemistry of the Earths atmosphere to model Earths atmosphere and the atmospheres of the
and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidis- other planets using uid ow equations, chemical mod-

1
2 5 ATMOSPHERES ON OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES

els, radiation balancing, and energy transfer processes nature of climates local, regional or global and the
in the atmosphere and underlying oceans. In order to natural or human-induced factors that cause climates to
model weather systems, atmospheric physicists employ change. Climatology considers the past and can help
elements of scattering theory, wave propagation models, predict future climate change.
cloud physics, statistical mechanics and spatial statistics,
Phenomena of climatological interest include the
each of which incorporate high levels of mathematics and
atmospheric boundary layer, circulation patterns, heat
physics. Atmospheric physics has close links to meteorol-
transfer (radiative, convective and latent), interactions
ogy and climatology and also covers the design and con-between the atmosphere and the oceans and land surface
struction of instruments for studying the atmosphere and
(particularly vegetation, land use and topography),
the interpretation of the data they provide, including re-
and the chemical and physical composition of the
mote sensing instruments.
atmosphere. Related disciplines include astrophysics,
In the United Kingdom, atmospheric studies are under- atmospheric physics, chemistry, ecology, physical ge-
pinned by the Meteorological Oce. Divisions of the ography, geology, geophysics, glaciology, hydrology,
U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oceanography, and volcanology.
(NOAA) oversee research projects and weather modeling
involving atmospheric physics. The U.S. National As-
tronomy and Ionosphere Center also carries out studies
of the high atmosphere.
5 Atmospheres on other celestial
The Earths magnetic eld and the solar wind interact with bodies
the atmosphere, creating the ionosphere, Van Allen radi-
ation belts, telluric currents, and radiant energy.

4 Climatology

Earths atmosphere

All of the Solar Systems planets have atmospheres. This

Regional impacts of warm ENSO episodes (El Nio).
Main article: Climatology
In contrast to meteorology, which studies short term
weather systems lasting up to a few weeks, climatology
studies the frequency and trends of those systems. It stud-
ies the periodicity of weather events over years to mil-
lennia, as well as changes in long-term average weather
patterns, in relation to atmospheric conditions. Clima-
tologists, those who practice climatology, study both the
is because their gravity is strong enough to keep gaseous
particles close to the surface. Larger gas giants are mas-
sive enough to keep large amounts of the light gases
hydrogen and helium close by, while the smaller plan-
ets lose these gases into space.[3] The composition of the
Earths atmosphere is dierent from the other planets be-
cause the various life processes that have transpired on the
planet have introduced free molecular oxygen.[4] Much of
Mercurys atmosphere has been blasted away by the solar
wind.[5] The only moon that has retained a dense atmo-
sphere is Titan. There is a thin atmosphere on Triton, and
a trace of an atmosphere on the Moon.
Planetary atmospheres are aected by the varying de-
grees of energy received from either the Sun or their
interiors, leading to the formation of dynamic weather
systems such as hurricanes, (on Earth), planet-wide dust
storms (on Mars), an Earth-sized anticyclone on Jupiter
(called the Great Red Spot), and holes in the atmo-
sphere (on Neptune).[6] At least one extrasolar planet, HD
189733 b, has been claimed to possess such a weather sys-
tem, similar to the Great Red Spot but twice as large.[7]
 3

Hot Jupiters have been shown to be losing their atmo- [10] Harrington, Jason; Hansen, Brad M.; Luszcz,
spheres into space due to stellar radiation, much like the Statia H.; Seager, Sara (2006). The phase-
tails of comets.[8][9] These planets may have vast dier- dependent infrared brightness of the extrasolar
ences in temperature between their day and night sides planet Andromeda b. Science 314 (5799): 6236.
[10]
which produce supersonic winds, although the day and arXiv:astro-ph/0610491. Bibcode:2006Sci...314..623H.
doi:10.1126/science.1133904. PMID 17038587.
night sides of HD 189733b appear to have very similar
(Related press release)
temperatures, indicating that planets atmosphere eec-
tively redistributes the stars energy around the planet.[7]
Further information: See the individual articles on each 8 External links
planet or moon for information about their respective
atmospheres.
Atmospheric uid dynamics applied to weather
maps Principles such as Advection, Deformation
and Vorticity

6 See also National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Archives, documents the history of the atmospheric
Weather and climate sciences

7 References
[1] Ultraviolet radiation in the solar system By Manuel
Vzquez, Arnold Hanslmeier
[2] University of Washington. Atmospheric Dynamics. Re-
trieved on 1 June 2007.
[3] Sheppard, S. S.; Jewitt, D.; Kleyna, J. (2005). An Ul-
tradeep Survey for Irregular Satellites of Uranus: Limits
to Completeness. The Astronomical Journal 129: 518.
arXiv:astro-ph/0410059. Bibcode:2005AJ....129..518S.
doi:10.1086/426329.
[4] Zeilik, Michael A.; Gregory, Stephan A. (1998). Intro-
ductory Astronomy & Astrophysics (4th ed.). Saunders
College Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 0-03-006228-4.
[5] Hunten D. M., Shemansky D. E., Morgan T. H. (1988),
The Mercury atmosphere, In: Mercury (A89-43751 19
91). University of Arizona Press, pp. 562612
[6] Harvey, Samantha (1 May 2006). Weather, Weather,
Everywhere?". NASA. Archived from the original on 8
August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
[7] Knutson, Heather A.; Charbonneau, David; Allen,
Lori E.; Fortney, Jonathan J. (2007). A map
of the day-night contrast of the extrasolar planet
HD 189733b. Nature 447 (7141): 1836.
arXiv:0705.0993. Bibcode:2007Natur.447..183K.
doi:10.1038/nature05782. PMID 17495920. (Related
press release)
[8] Weaver, D.; Villard, R. (31 January 2007). Hubble
Probes Layer-cake Structure of Alien Worlds Atmo-
sphere. University of Arizona, Lunar and Planetary Lab-
oratory (Press Release). Archived from the original on 8
August 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
[9] Ballester, Gilda E.; Sing, David K.; Herbert, Floyd
(2007). The signature of hot hydrogen in the atmo-
sphere of the extrasolar planet HD 209458b. Na-
ture 445 (7127): 5114. Bibcode:2007Natur.445..511B.
doi:10.1038/nature05525. PMID 17268463.
4 9 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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