Lower Atmosphere

Basics

Unit 1
An Introduction of the Troposphere

The troposphere is the atmospheric layer next to the ground, where the weather and human life take place. Our range of sight is usually very limited in the directions parallel to the Earth, because often there are buildings or mountains in the way or the air is dusty. If we look towards the sky, it seems to be so endless. However the sky, the layer of air surrounding our planet, protecting us and making life possible  is very thin.

Imagine, if you are travelling in an air plane in 10-11 km altitude, 80% of all air molecules of the atmosphere are below you.
In this Unit we will have a look what changes in the air take place with increasing altitude. We will compare the dimension of the Earth surface with the dimension of the lowest atmospheric layer, the troposphere. We think about, how different the properties of the troposphere can be, depending on where we are on Earth. Finally we will learn what air consists of. We will understand, that many important properties of our climate do not come from the main components of the air, but from trace compounds, which often make up for less than one millionth of all air molecules.

author:Dr. Elmar Uherek - Max Planck Institute for Chemistry Mainz
revised and last published: 2004-03-29