Earth's atmosphere, Clouds, and Air pressure and Wind - Assignment Example

It keeps the temperature balanced within 24 hours as well. At different temperatures, the atmosphere is further subdivided into layers beginning from the Earth’s surface where troposphere lies between 7 to 14 kms followed by the stratosphere reaching the 50-km altitude. This layer is conducive for airplanes due to stability and with increasing temperature, only minimal amount of water vapor and other components may be detected. On top of the stratosphere is the mesosphere about 30 km in thickness which, due to unstable winds and temperature, experiences a certain degree of coldness.

Within 80 to 85 kms from the ground begins the region of the thermosphere that spans a width of about 560 km or greater where it is possible for radio waves to be reflected during communication via radio system. Types of Clouds Clouds are generated every time the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor to the point they are unable to contain it in excess that phase change from vapor to liquid for water necessarily takes place during condensation stage of the water cycle. These clouds are massive by several millions of tons in weight and are classified based upon their physical appearance and altitudes.

On the basis of the way they look in the sky, stratus clouds refer to the type which may be seen as flat sheets among low to high-level clouds. Another type under this classification are the cumulus clouds which are puffy, lumpy, or wavy and when enormous in size could form into towering vertical clouds with a potential to generate thunderstorm. Cirrus clouds, the third type, are known to be high and thin and cold at high levels, being made of ice crystals rather than water droplets. With reference to how high they could get from the ground level, clouds come in five types namely – high-level clouds, medium-level clouds, low-level clouds, moderate-vertical clouds, and towering-vertical clouds.

It is quite interesting to find out that heavy rain, snow showers, and snow can be created with both the towering-vertical clouds and the moderate-vertical clouds. Air Pressure and Wind Systems When air exerts force on a particular area of the Earth’s surface due to the air’s weight then an atmospheric pressure emerges. This pressure increases as the layer of air becomes thick and this occurs at low altitudes whereas high places encounter low atmospheric pressure for having thin air around.

A mercury barometer is the device used to measure air pressure in inches or millimeters. Wind, compared to still air, is identified with gases in motion and in our living planet, the mere flow of air is called wind. A ‘solar wind’, however, is caused by the flow of gases or particles from the sun in the outer space. Winds go by different names depending on their speeds and how long they stay on a particular spot. Gusts, for instance, are known as short bursts of fast winds, breeze for the light ones, whereas squalls are those with great strength that last in a minute.

Typhoon, hurricanes, storms, tornadoes, and cyclones are some other names given according to the wind’s nature of existence and they normally take place with high pressure differences beyond 200 miles per hour. Either hot rising air with low pressure or cool dropping air with high pressure