The Weather Machine

By David.R.Gilson

The vertical extent of the atmosphere and its composition

The atmosphere of our planet Earth is spilt into several layers. These layers are systematically named,
each layer has a suffix "-sphere" and each interface has a suffix "-pause. Our atmosphere extends to about
250 km. The density of the atmosphere changes greatly. Fifty percent of the atmosphere's mass is found
below 5.6 km, about ninety nine percent is found below 30 km. Therefore, we can see that the atmosphere
above that point is extremely tenuous. Figure One (see appendix) shows the various atmospheric layers in
terms of altitude, and how the temperature of tile atmosphere changes with altitude.

The first layer of the atmosphere is the Troposphere. There is much moisture in the lower levels of this
layer, and it is here that our weather systems occur. The next layer is called tile Stratosphere, and the
Tropopause lies between the Stratosphere and the Troposphere. In the Stratosphere there are very high
velocity wind streams. In addition, Cirrus clouds occur here, these are small clouds of ice crystals. Going
through the Stratopause, we reach the Mesosphere. The temperature of this region falls with altitude here.
Going through the Mesopause, we reach the Thermosphere. In this region, the atmosphere is extremely
thin and gets very hot. The temperature is about 1500 Kelvin at 300km altitude. Noctulant clouds occur in
this layer too. The final layer is the Ionosphere. This is a hot layer, where ionised gas and plasma exists.
Within the Stratosphere, the Ozone layer exists (See the penultimate section).

The origin and evolution of our atmosphere

According to current theories, we can expect planets (or at least new ones) to have the same composition
as their parent star. For example, take the outer planets of our solar system, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and
Uranus. Their major constituents are Hydrogen and Helium. This is just the same our sun.

James Jeans showed that the root mean squared (rms) speed of the gas (of an atmosphere) is below a
certain fraction of a planets escape velocity, then over approximately 109 years, an atmosphere shall form
around the planet. From Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, heavier gases have a lower rms speed than lighter
gasses. Therefore, light gasses find it easier to escape from a planet's gravity. The larger outer planets, as
we have seen, have larger fractions of lighter gases than the smaller (inner) planets.

The temperature of the planet's atmosphere also affects the rms speed of the atmospheric molecules.
Therefore, the inner planets that are smaller and hotter (by virtue of their distance to the sun) have lost all
of their primordial light gasses.

Another process, which has affected the atmosphere of several planets and satellites, is volcanism. As
eruptions occur at the surface of the planet's crust, vaporised constituents of this crust are ejected into the
atmosphere. They hence contribute to the composition of the atmosphere. A feature of atmospheric
evolution peculiar to Earth, is that of respiration. As life has developed, carbon dioxide (C02) has been
broken down into oxygen (0) by plant life and some life forms.

Motion of the earth in space and the seasons

The motion of the Earth through space has two modes. It orbits the sun in a slightly elliptical path (the
sun being at one of the foci), and the Earth rotates on its axis. The axis of rotation is tilted from the
normal to the orbital plane; this tilt is approximately 0.4 radians (1 d.p.) or 23.4 degrees. The orbit of the
Earth and its axial tilt can be seen in figure 2 (see appendix).

It is the combination of the solar orbit and the axial tilt of the Earth that causes the seasons. These also
give rise to the varying climate conditions across the planet. Due the Earth's tilt, at summer solstice (21st
June) the sun does not set at the North Pole and does not rise at the South Pole. Then at winter solstice
(22nd December) the sun does not set at the South Pole and does not rise at the North Pole.

As we go from summer to winter, the path of the sun appears to get lower in the sky. This is why the day
light period gets shorter. The sun spends shorter in the sky and we hence have less daylight. The opposite
is also true for summer time.

Transmission of solar radiation through the atmosphere. The ozone layer

the greenhouse effect. The heat balance of the Earth.

Not all of the incident solar radiation on the atmosphere reaches the surface of the earth. Some is reflected
by the atmosphere and clouds, and some is scattered upwards by dust particles in the atmosphere. The rest
of the solar radiation that does get through is absorbed by the atmosphere and the Earth's surface (of
which is re-radiated to space). The radiation that is absorbed is absorbed at specific wavelengths, which
relate to the chemical constituents of the atmosphere.

Ozone is an oxygen compound, tri-oxygen to be precise. When Ozone is exposed to ultraviolet radiation,
it breaks down into ordinary O2 molecules and singe O atoms. There exists a chemical equilibrium for this
process; this is shown below (note, "<=>" denotes equilibrium).

2O2 -(uv)-> O2+2O1 < =(uv)= > O3+O1

Ozone acts a shield for the Earth's population from ultraviolet radiation.

The greenhouse effect is the heating of the planet due to infrared radiation absorption by particular gasses,
carbon dioxide (CO) in particular. As the infrared radiation is absorbed by the atmosphere the
temperature of the atmosphere and hence the planet is increased. During the 20th century the CO content
of the atmosphere has increased and the climate temperature has increased. If this trend continues, there
will be dire consequences for the population (of all species) of planet Earth.

All the life on the planet (animal and plant life) depends greatly on a stable climate temperature. The
Earth is good at having a stabilised temperature. The surface and the atmosphere are collectively in
thermal equilibrium with the influx of solar radiation. In effect, over a period of years, the amount of
radiation absorbed by the Earth is equal to the radiation transmitted by the Earth. The greenhouse effect
retains some radiation to maintain the actual temperature.

Atmospheric dynamics and atmospheric circulation. High and low pressure

systems. Fronts and weather systems.

As the Earth is exposed to heat from the sun, the air in the atmosphere rises. It then cools and falls again.
This process creates circulation cells. Due to the Earth's rotation, a (apparition) force arises, the Corielis
Force. The effect of this force is to deflect the air streams in the atmosphere. This causes areas of high
and low pressure in the atmosphere.

When opposing air streams of high and low temperature flow in a low-pressure area, a cyclone of low-
pressure air arises. This is called a low-pressure front. It is such high and low pressure fronts that bring
about weather systems. For example, in a low-pressure front exists, precipitation (rain) occurs.
Appendix

Figure 1 is below. It shows how the atmosphere changes with altitude. It also shows the rate of
temperature change with altitude.
Figure 2 is shown below. It shows how the Earth goes round the sun and how it's axis of rotation is tilted