Atmosphere Earth's atmosphere is a thin layer of air that forms a protective covering around the planet.

. Earth's atmosphere maintains a balance between the amount of heat absorbed from the Sun and the amount of heat that escapes back into space. It also protects life-forms from some of the Sun's harmful rays Earth's atmosphere is a mixture of gases, solids, and liquids that surrounds the planet. It extends from Earth's surface to outer space. Earth's early atmosphere, produced by erupting volcanoes, contained nitrogen and carbon dioxide, but little oxygen In addition to gases, Earth's atmosphere contains small, solid particles such as dust, salt, and pollen. The atmosphere also contains small liquid droplets other than water droplets in clouds. Composition of Atmosphere Nitrogen - 78% Oxygen - 21% Water Vapor 0 to 4% Carbon Dioxide - .037% Other gases make up the rest

There are five layers in Earths atmosphere, each with its own properties The lower layers include the troposphere and stratosphere. The upper atmospheric layers are the mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. The troposphere and stratosphere contain most of the air. You study, eat, sleep, and play in the troposphere, which is the lowest of Earths atmospheric layers. It contains 99 percent of the water vapor and 75 percent of the atmospheric gases

Troposphere 0 to 15 km altitude The lowest region of the atmosphere, where life & weather exist. Temperature decreases with altitude. Long-wave radiation emitted from Earth is absorbed by the atmosphere, the atmosphere becomes less dense with increasing altitude, less air to absorb Top of the troposphere is known as the tropopause

Stratosphere 15 to 50 km altitude Temperature increases with altitude. Heating occurs because ozone (O3) absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Top of the stratosphere is known as the stratopause

The stratosphere, the layer directly above the troposphere, extends from 10 km above Earth's surface to about 50 km. A portion of the stratosphere contains higher levels of a gas called ozone. Each molecule of ozone is made up of three oxygen atoms bonded together. Mesosphere 50 to 90 km altitude Temperature decreases with altitude The lowest temperatures in the entire atmosphere are found at the mesopause during summer at high latitudes, 130 K (-226F) can occur Top of the mesosphere is known as the mesopause The mesosphere extends from the top of the stratosphere to about 85 km above Earth. The thermosphere is named for its high temperatures. This is the thickest atmospheric layer and is found between 85 km and 500 km above Earth. Thermosphere 90 to 500 km altitude Temperature increases with altitude above 90 km, and is constant above 200 km. This heating is due to absorption of solar radiation (wavelengths less than 0.2 microns) by molecular oxygen (O2). The highest temperatures in the atmosphere can be found in the thermosphere, 2000 K can occur The Ionosphere

Within the mesosphere and thermosphere is a layer of electrically charged particles called the ionosphere Region of charged ions (positive) and electrons Electrons are torn off atoms by sunlight of short wavelengths Electrons dont recombine easily because the distance between molecules is large at high altitudes and collisions are not frequent

Within the mesosphere and thermosphere is a layer of electrically charged particles called the ionosphere The ionosphere allows radio waves to travel across the country to another city.

The ionosphere is known to reflect most radio waves because of its ions and free electrons Ionosphere begins at ht of about 85 km and extend upto few hundred km. D layer Lowest part: D layer has enough collisions to cause it to disappear after sunset Which reflect the longer radio waves back to earths surface. Layer return at sunrise E Layer of Ionosphere Situated at 120km above the earth. Ionized gas Reflects medium frequency waves, causes radio waves to be propagated Refracts radio signals and causes them to skip back to earth F Layer of Ionosphere Two layers F1- ht of 200 km, F2- 300 km Most important in terms of high frequency communications Most reflective of radio on the side of the Earth facing the sun Short radio waves are reflected back to the earth Exosphere The last layer is the exosphere where the atmospheres extremely rarefied, even more rarefied in the vacuum we can achieve in the laboratory, this layer consists of a no. of radiation belt which are believed to extend up to about 60000 km above the earth surface.