The characteristics of the troposphere are related to the atmospheric phenomena that occur in it. The troposphere is the layer of Earth's atmosphere that is in contact with the earth.
It has 17 kilometers of thickness approximately in the equatorial zone, and in the poles reaches the 7 kilometers.
This thickness may vary in relation to the seasons of the year. In height its limit is the stratosphere, being the tropopause the division between both.
The characteristics of the troposphere make life possible, both terrestrial and aquatic. The great majority of the tropospheric gases are made up of nitrogen and oxygen.
The main characteristics of the troposphere
Meteorological phenomena
In this layer of the atmosphere is where the meteorological phenomena happen, wind, rain and snow.
When the sun heats the ground, the warm air rises. The water evaporates and rises with hot air until reaching cooler heights.
Because cold air can not absorb much water, it condenses into clouds. When arriving at the tropopause (the temperature there is of 50 ° C below zero), the water and the air stop ascending. The consequence of these phenomena are the rains, the snow or the hail.
Vertical, ascending and descending currents
Also in this layer of the atmosphere are vertical, upstream and downstream currents.
These help recycle air, dispersing pollutants, dust in suspension, or industrial agents.
All this accumulates in the first 500 meters of height, in what is called the dirty layer. It causes reddish color at dawn and dusk.
Higher oxygen concentration
Most of the oxygen and water vapor are concentrated in the troposphere. This makes possible the existence of the biosphere, where all living things can develop.
Thermostat
The tropospheric layer acts as a regulator of the earth's temperature. Without the troposphere, the thermal differences between day and night would make life not possible.
For the living beings it's of vital importance.
Greenhouse effect
Here also the greenhouse effect occurs, by the action of gases such as carbon dioxide and water vapor.
These absorb the infrared radiation of the sun and 88% of that emitted by the earth. The solar rays cross the troposphere and are"trapped".
Thanks to this natural greenhouse effect, life on earth can exist, with temperatures that make it possible.
Commercial flights
In this layer is where the planes fly. These must pressurize their cabins by the lack of oxygen and the cold at the height of the flight.
It is for this reason also that mountain climbers carry bottles of oxygen and clothes of much shelter.
The troposphere is the thinnest layer of all that make up the Earth's atmosphere and also the most turbulent.
Astronomers find their observations difficult because of the troposphere. This is why the space telescopes were launched.
References
- "The Troposphere"in Windows to the Universe (January 2010). Recovered in October 2017 from Windows to the Universe at: windows2universe.org
- "The atmospheric layers"in Atmospheric layers Landeta (May 2013). Recovered in October 2017 from the atmospheric layers Landeta in: lascapasatmosfericaslandeta.blogspot.com.ar
- "Physical-chemical characteristics and phenomena of the atmospheric structure"in Geocobaej (September 2014). Recovered in October 2017 from Geocobaej at: geocobaej.blogspot.com.ar/
- "Troposphere"in Wikipedia. Retrieved in October 2017 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org
- "Troposphere"in Ecured. Recovered in October 2017 from Ecured at: www.ecured.cu
- "Definition of Troposphere"in Definition. Recovered in October 2017 from Definition at: definicion.de
- "Atmospheric structure"in Layers of the Atmosphere. Retrieved in October 2017 of Layers of the Atmosphere in: geoenciclopedia.com