The stratosphere (from the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many stratus, meaning 'a spreading out') is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night. Dry air contains roughly (by volume) 78% nitrogen, 21%, just above the troposphere The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols, and below the mesosphere The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. The mesosphere is located about 50 to 85 kilometers (30 to 50 miles) above the Earth's surface. It is stratified In general, air pressure and density decrease in the atmosphere as height increases. However, temperature has a more complicated profile with altitude. Because the general pattern of this profile is constant and recognizable through means such as balloon soundings, temperature provides a useful metric to distinguish between atmospheric layers in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer farther down. The border of the troposphere and stratosphere, the tropopause The tropopause is the atmospheric boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Going upward from the surface, it is the point where air ceases to cool with height, and becomes almost completely dry. More formally, it is the region of the atmosphere where the lapse rate changes from positive to negative (in the stratosphere). This occurs, is marked by where this inversion begins, which in terms of atmospheric thermodynamics Atmospheric Thermodynamics is the study of heat to work transformations in the earth’s atmospheric system in relation to weather. Following the fundamental laws of classical thermodynamics, atmospheric thermodynamics studies such phenomena as properties of moist air, formation of clouds, atmospheric convection, boundary layer meteorology, and is the equilibrium level In meteorology, the equilibrium level , or level of neutral buoyancy (LNB), is the height at which a rising parcel of air is at a temperature of equal warmth to it. This means that unstable air is now stable when it reaches the equilibrium level and convection stops. This level is often near the tropopause and can be indicated as the anvil of a. The stratosphere is situated between about 10 km (6 miles) and 50 km (31 miles) altitude Altitude or height is defined based on the context in which it is used . As a general definition, altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum and a point or object. The reference datum also often varies according to the context. Although the term altitude is commonly used to above the surface at moderate latitudes, while at the poles A geographical pole is either of the two points—the north pole and the south pole—on the surface of a rotating planet (or other rotating body) where the axis of rotation (or simply "axis") meets the surface of the body. The north geographic pole of a body lies 90 degrees north of the equator, while the south geographic pole lies 90 it starts at about 8 km (5 miles) altitude.
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Temperature
The stratosphere is layered in temperature because it is heated from above by absorption of ultraviolet Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3eV to 124 eV. It is so named because the spectrum consists of electromagnetic waves with frequencies higher than those that humans identify as the colour violet radiation from the Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It has a diameter of about 1,392,000 kilometers , about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass (about 2 × 1030 kilograms, 330,000 times that of Earth) accounts for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. About three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is. Within this layer, temperature increases as altitude increases (see temperature inversion In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to a temperature inversion, i.e., an increase in temperature with height, or to the layer within which such an increase occurs); the top of the stratosphere has a temperature of about 270 K The kelvin is a unit increment of temperature and is one of the seven SI base units. The Kelvin scale is a thermodynamic (absolute) temperature scale referenced to absolute zero, the absence of all thermal energy. So by definition, the temperature of a substance at absolute zero is zero kelvin (0 K). The secondary reference point on the Kelvin (−3°C Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death. The degree Celsius (°C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale as well as a unit to indicate a temperature interval (a difference between two temperatures or 29.6°F Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the temperature scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries. It is still in use in few nations, such as United States and Belize), just slightly below the freezing point of water.[1] This top is called the stratopause The stratopause is the level of the atmosphere which is the boundary between two layers, stratosphere and the mesosphere. In the stratosphere the temperature increases with altitude, and the stratopause is the section where a maximum in the temperature occurs, above which temperature again decreases with height. The vertical stratification In general, air pressure and density decrease in the atmosphere as height increases. However, temperature has a more complicated profile with altitude. Because the general pattern of this profile is constant and recognizable through means such as balloon soundings, temperature provides a useful metric to distinguish between atmospheric layers, with warmer layers above and cooler layers below, makes the stratosphere dynamically stable: there is no regular convection Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids . It cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows or significant diffusion can take place in solids and associated turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a fluid regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time. Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman describes turbulence as "the most important unsolved problem of in this part of the atmosphere. The heating is caused by an ozone layer The ozone layer is a layer in Earth's atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone . This layer absorbs 97–99% of the sun's high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to life on earth. Over 90% of the ozone in Earth's atmosphere is present here. It is mainly located in the lower portion of the that absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV. It is so named because the spectrum consists of electromagnetic waves with frequencies higher than those that humans identify as the color violet, heating the upper layers of the stratosphere. The base of the stratosphere occurs where heating by conduction In heat transfer, conduction is the transfer of thermal energy between neighboring molecules in a substance due to a temperature gradient. It always takes place from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature, and acts to equalize temperature differences. Conduction takes place in all forms of matter, viz. solids, liquids, from above and cooling by convection from below (through the troposphere, due to the adiabatic Adiabatic heating or cooling of a gas results from pressure change. Work is done on or by the gas, but there is no heat transfer with the environment. Heat can be supplied to the gas by friction however. If an adiabatic process is frictionless too, the process is reversible and can be called isentropic expansion of air parcels) balance out; hence, the stratosphere begins at lower altitudes near the poles due to the lower ground temperature Historically, two equivalent concepts of temperature have developed, the thermodynamic description and a microscopic explanation based on statistical physics. Since thermodynamics deals entirely with macroscopic measurements, the thermodynamic definition of temperature, first stated by Lord Kelvin, is stated entirely in empirical, measurable.The major reason for the temperature increase with altitude is that most of the ozone (O3) is contained in the stratosphere. High energy ultraviolet light interacts with ozone to cause the temperature increase.
Aircraft flight
Commercial airliners An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such planes are owned by airlines typically cruise at altitudes of 9–12 km in temperate latitudes, in the lower reaches of the stratosphere.[2] They do this to optimize jet engine A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets and pump-jets. In general, most jet engines are internal combustion engines but non- fuel burn, mostly thanks to the low temperatures encountered near the tropopause. It also allows them to stay above any hard weather, and avoid atmospheric turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a fluid regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time. Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman describes turbulence as "the most important unsolved problem of from the convection Convection is the movement of molecules within fluids . It cannot take place in solids, since neither bulk current flows or significant diffusion can take place in solids in the troposphere The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols. Turbulence experienced in the cruise phase of flight is often caused by convective overshoot from the troposphere below. Although a few gliders Glider aircraft are heavier-than-air craft that are supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against their lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Mostly these types of aircraft are intended for routine operation without engines, though engine failure can force other types of aircraft to glide. Some have achieved great altitudes in the powerful thermals A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and an example of convection. The Sun warms the ground, which in turn warms the air directly above it. Dark earth, urban areas and roadways are good sources of thermals in thunderstorms, this is dangerous. Most high altitude flights by gliders use lee waves In meteorology, lee waves are atmospheric standing waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves. These were discovered in 1933 by two German glider pilots, Hans Deutschmann and Wolf Hirth, above the Riesengebirge. They are periodic changes of atmospheric pressure, temperature and orthometric height in from mountain ranges and were used to set the current record It is one of several Air Sport Commissions of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), or "World Air Sports Federation". FAI is the world body for sporting aviation and the certification of world records for aeronautics and astronautics and was founded in 1905 of 15,447m (50,671 feet).
Circulation and mixing
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The stratosphere is a region of intense interactions among radiative, dynamical The dynamical system concept is a mathematical formalization for any fixed "rule" which describes the time dependence of a point's position in its ambient space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the flow of water in a pipe, and the number of fish each spring in a lake, and chemical processes, in which horizontal mixing of gaseous components proceeds much more rapidly than vertical mixing.
An interesting feature of stratospheric circulation is the quasi-Biennial Oscillation The QBO is a quasi-periodic oscillation of the equatorial zonal wind between easterlies and westerlies in the tropical stratosphere with a mean period of 28 to 29 months. The alternating wind regimes develop at the top of the lower stratosphere and propagate downwards at about 1 km per month until they are dissipated at the tropical tropopause (QBO) in the tropical latitudes, which is driven by gravity waves In fluid dynamics, gravity waves are waves generated in a fluid medium or at the interface between two media which has the restoring force of gravity or buoyancy that are convectively generated in the troposphere The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols. The QBO induces a secondary circulation A secondary circulation is a circulation induced in a rotating system. For example, the primary circulation of Earth's atmosphere is zonal. If however a parcel of air, that moves in a purely zonal direction, is accelerated or decelerated zonally, the Coriolis force will add a meridional component to its velocity. This meridional circulation is that is important for the global stratospheric transport of tracers such as ozone Ozone , or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope (O2). Ozone in the lower atmosphere is an air pollutant with harmful effects on the respiratory systems of animals and will burn sensitive plants; however, the ozone layer in the upper or water vapor Water vapor or water vapour , also aqueous vapor, is the gas phase of water. Water vapor is one state of water within the hydrosphere. Water vapor can be produced from the evaporation of boiling liquid water or from the sublimation of ice. Under typical atmospheric conditions, water vapor is continuously generated by evaporation and removed by.
In northern hemispheric winter, sudden stratospheric warmings A sudden stratospheric warming is an event where the polar vortex of westerly (eastwards) winds in the Northern winter hemisphere abruptly (i.e. over the course of a few days) slows down or even reverses direction, accompanied by a rise of stratospheric temperature by several tens of kelvins. This is considered to be the most dramatic can often be observed which are caused by the absorption of Rossby waves Rossby waves are giant meanders in high-altitude winds that are a major influence on weather. Their emergence is due to shear in rotating fluids, so that the Coriolis force changes along the sheared coordinate. In planetary atmospheres, they are due to the variation in the Coriolis effect with latitude. The waves were first identified in the Earth' in the stratosphere.
Life
Bacterial The bacteria ( [bækˈtɪəriə] ; singular: bacterium)[α] are a large group of single-celled, prokaryote microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria are ubiquitous in every habitat on Earth, growing in soil, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, life survives in the stratosphere, making it a part of the biosphere The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth. From the broadest biophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. The.[3] Also, some bird species have been reported to fly at the lower levels of the stratosphere. On November 29, 1975, a Rüppell's Vulture was reportedly ingested into a jet engine 37,900 feet above the Ivory Coast The Republic of Côte d'Ivoire , commonly known in English as Ivory Coast, is a country in West Africa. It has an area of 322,462 km2, and borders the countries of Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana; its southern boundary is along the Gulf of Guinea. The country's population which was 15,366,672 in 1998, was estimated to be 20,617,068, and Bar-headed geese The Bar-headed Goose is a goose which breeds in Central Asia in colonies of thousands near mountain lakes. It lays three to eight eggs at a time in a ground nest routinely overfly Mount Everest Mount Everest – also called Qomolangma Peak (Mount Sagarmāthā , Tibetan: ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ; Chinese Zhumulangma Peak simplified Chinese: 珠穆朗玛峰; pinyin: Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng), Chajamlangma (Limbu), or Mount Chomolangma – is the world's highest mountain above sea level at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft). Part of the's summit, which is 29,028 feet.[4][5]
See also
- Léon Teisserenc de Bort Léon Philippe Teisserenc de Bort was a French meteorologist who became famous for his discovery of the stratosphere and Richard Assmann (the discoverers of the stratosphere)
- Paris Gun The Paris Gun was a German long-range siege gun used to bombard Paris during World War I. It was in service from March-August 1918. When it was first employed, Parisians believed they'd been bombed by a new type of high-altitude zeppelin, as neither the sound of an airplane nor a gun could be heard. It was the largest piece of artillery used (first artificial object to reach stratosphere)
- SR-71 Blackbird
- Concorde
- Lockheed U-2
- RQ-4 Global Hawk
- Twinjets service ceiling
- Le Grand Saut
References
| Look up stratosphere in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
- ^ Seinfeld, J. H., and S. N. Pandis, (2006), Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From Air Pollution to Climate Change 2nd ed, Wiley, New Jersey
- ^ Altitude of a Commercial Jet
- ^ S. Shivaji et al, "Isolation of three novel bacterial strains, Janibacter hoylei sp. nov., Bacillus isronensis sp. nov. and Bacillus aryabhattai sp. nov. from cryotubes used for collecting air from upper atmosphere.", Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Thomas Alerstam, David A. Christie, Astrid Ulfstrand. Bird Migration (1990). Page 276.
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Categories: Atmosphere | Meteorology
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Fri, 11 Jun 2010 13:38:25 GMT+00:00
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Q. From the monorail Sahara station in Las Vegas to the Stratosphere tower? Also is it safe to walk there late at night? Is there a shuttle to it?
Asked by Brigitte Isabella - Mon May 10 12:18:58 2010 - - 6 Answers - 0 Comments
A. It's a short walk, 15 minutes max. I wouldn't recommend walking alone day or night. No shuttle service that I am aware of.
Answered by Irish Sean - Mon May 10 14:25:06 2010
