Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Weather forecast - How many layers does the sky have? Which floors?

How many layers does the sky have? Which floors?

Scientists divide the atmosphere into 5 layers according to temperature changes:

Troposphere: from the ground to about 10 to 16 kilometers (about 8 to 9 kilometers at the pole, 15 to 18 kilometers at the equator) kilometers), is the lowest level of the atmosphere. This layer contains about three-quarters of the mass of the entire atmosphere and almost all of the water vapor. Atmospheric convection is very developed in this layer, and the temperature decreases evenly with altitude, with an average decrease of 0.6°C for every 100 meters of altitude, and the temperature drops to -55°C near 11 kilometers. In this layer, the atmospheric activity is extremely intense, either rising, falling, or even rolling. It is precisely because of these constantly changing atmospheric movements that a variety of complex weather changes are formed. Wind, clouds, rain, snow, fog, dew, thunder, and hail also mostly occur in this layer, so some people also call this layer meteorological layer.

The top of this layer is called the tropopause. The temperature here no longer decreases as the altitude increases, but remains basically unchanged. It is a very stable layer, and the weather in the troposphere has no influence here. The skies here are often clear, the visibility is extremely high, and the air is smooth, making it ideal for jet-propelled flights.

The stratosphere: from the tropopause up to around 55 kilometers. . This layer is the place where ozone is concentrated in the earth's atmosphere, especially in its lower part, that is, the ozone concentration is maximum at an altitude of 15 to 25 kilometers, so this layer is also called the ozone layer. Because the ozone layer can absorb a large amount of solar radiation heat and greatly increase the air temperature, the biggest feature of this layer is that the temperature increases with height, and the temperature increases to a maximum value at the top.

Although there is very little water vapor in the stratosphere and weather phenomena are relatively rare, with the launch of weather rockets and satellites, it has been found that changes in airflow in this layer are closely related to weather changes in the troposphere and influence each other.

Middle layer: The range from the top of the stratosphere upward, that is, from 55 kilometers to 80 kilometers, is named the middle layer of the atmosphere, referred to as the middle layer. Here, the temperature drops with altitude, reaching its lowest point at about -90°C around 80 kilometers. People generally regard aircraft that fly at an altitude of 80-100 kilometers as spacecraft that do not rely on the atmosphere. According to NASA regulations: pilots who fly above an altitude of 80 kilometers can be called astronauts.

Thermosphere: The range from the middle atmosphere upward to about 500 kilometers. It is called the thermosphere because the air molecules and ions in this layer directly absorb solar ultraviolet radiation energy and therefore move very fast, just like high-temperature gases. The air here is extremely thin. Although the temperature at the top of the thermosphere can reach 1000°C (when the sun is relatively quiet) to 2000°C (when the solar activity is intense), you actually don't feel hot at all.

Escape layer: Above 500 kilometers is the outer atmosphere. The top of this layer is the top of the earth's atmosphere. The Earth's gravity is very small here. In addition, the air is very thin, and the chance of gas molecules colliding with each other is very small. Therefore, the air molecules fly around at high speed like tiny missiles. Once they fly upward, they will enter an area with minimal chance of collision. , and finally it will bid farewell to the earth and enter interstellar space, so the outer atmosphere is called the escape layer. The temperature in this layer is extremely high, but nearly isothermal. The air here is also highly ionized. Most human space activities are conducted within (or outside) the escape layer.

In addition to being stratified by temperature, the atmosphere can also be divided into the neutral layer, the ionosphere and the magnetosphere based on its electromagnetic properties. The neutral layer refers to the ground to a height of 60 kilometers, where most of the atmospheric components are in a neutral, that is, non-ionized state; the atmosphere between 60 kilometers and 500 kilometers is called the ionized layer. Above 500 kilometers is called the magnetosphere.