Types of the earth's atmosphere. Chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere

The atmosphere extends upward for many hundreds of kilometers. Its upper limit, at an altitude of about 2000-3000 km, to a certain extent, it is conditional, since the gases that make it up, gradually becoming rarefied, pass into cosmic space. The chemical composition of the atmosphere, pressure, density, temperature and its other physical properties change with altitude. As mentioned earlier, the chemical composition of air up to a height of 100 km does not change significantly. Slightly higher, the atmosphere also consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. But at altitudes 100-110 km, Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, oxygen molecules are split into atoms and atomic oxygen appears. Above 110-120 km almost all oxygen becomes atomic. Supposedly above 400-500 km The gases that make up the atmosphere are also in an atomic state.

Air pressure and density decrease rapidly with altitude. Although the atmosphere extends upward for hundreds of kilometers, the bulk of it is located in a rather thin layer adjacent to the surface of the earth in its lowest parts. So, in the layer between sea level and heights 5-6 km half the mass of the atmosphere is concentrated in the layer 0-16 km-90%, and in the layer 0-30 km- 99%. The same rapid decrease in air mass occurs above 30 km. If weight 1 m 3 air at the surface of the earth is 1033 g, then at a height of 20 km it is equal to 43 g, and at a height of 40 km only 4 years

At an altitude of 300-400 km and above, the air is so rarefied that during the day its density changes many times. Research has shown that this change in density is related to the position of the Sun. The highest air density is around noon, the lowest at night. This is partly explained by the fact that the upper layers of the atmosphere react to changes in the electromagnetic radiation of the Sun.

Air temperature also varies unequally with altitude. According to the nature of temperature changes with altitude, the atmosphere is divided into several spheres, between which there are transition layers, so-called pauses, where the temperature changes little with altitude.

Here are the names and main characteristics of the spheres and transition layers.

Let us present basic data on the physical properties of these spheres.

Troposphere. The physical properties of the troposphere are largely determined by the influence of the earth's surface, which is its lower boundary. The highest altitude of the troposphere is observed in the equatorial and tropical zones. Here it reaches 16-18 km and is subject to relatively little daily and seasonal changes. Over the polar and adjacent regions, the upper boundary of the troposphere lies on average at a level of 8-10 km. In middle latitudes it ranges from 6-8 to 14-16 km.

The vertical thickness of the troposphere depends significantly on the nature of atmospheric processes. Often during the day the upper boundary of the troposphere above a given point or area falls or rises by several kilometers. This is mainly due to changes in air temperature.

More than 4/5 of the mass of the earth's atmosphere and almost all the water vapor contained in it are concentrated in the troposphere. In addition, from the surface of the earth to the upper boundary of the troposphere, the temperature decreases by an average of 0.6° for every 100 m, or 6° per 1 km raising . This is explained by the fact that the air in the troposphere is heated and cooled primarily by the earth's surface.

In accordance with the influx of solar energy, the temperature decreases from the equator to the poles. Thus, the average air temperature at the surface of the earth at the equator reaches +26°, over the polar regions in winter -34°, -36°, and in summer about 0°. Thus, the temperature difference between the equator and the pole in winter is 60°, and in summer only 26°. True, such low temperatures in the Arctic in winter are observed only near the surface of the earth due to cooling of the air above the icy expanses.

In winter in Central Antarctica, the air temperature on the surface of the ice sheet is even lower. At Vostok station in August 1960, the lowest temperature on the globe was recorded -88.3°, and most often in Central Antarctica it is -45°, -50°.

With height, the temperature difference between the equator and the pole decreases. For example, at an altitude of 5 km at the equator the temperature reaches -2°, -4°, and at the same altitude in the Central Arctic -37°, -39° in winter and -19°, -20° in summer; therefore, the temperature difference in winter is 35-36°, and in summer 16-17°. In the southern hemisphere these differences are somewhat larger.

The energy of atmospheric circulation can be determined by equator-pole temperature contracts. Since the magnitude of temperature contrasts is greater in winter, atmospheric processes occur more intensely than in summer. This also explains the fact that the prevailing westerly winds in the troposphere in winter have higher speeds than in summer. In this case, the wind speed, as a rule, increases with height, reaching a maximum at the upper boundary of the troposphere. Horizontal transfer is accompanied by vertical movements of air and turbulent (disordered) movement. Due to the rise and fall of large volumes of air, clouds form and dissipate, precipitation occurs and ceases. The transition layer between the troposphere and the overlying sphere is tropopause. Above it lies the stratosphere.

Stratosphere extends from heights 8-17 to 50-55 km. It was discovered at the beginning of our century. In terms of physical properties, the stratosphere differs sharply from the troposphere in that the air temperature here, as a rule, increases by an average of 1 - 2 ° per kilometer of elevation and at the upper boundary, at an altitude of 50-55 km, even becomes positive. The increase in temperature in this area is caused by the presence of ozone (O 3), which is formed under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The ozone layer occupies almost the entire stratosphere. The stratosphere is very poor in water vapor. There are no violent processes of cloud formation and no precipitation.

More recently, it was assumed that the stratosphere is a relatively calm environment where air mixing does not occur, as in the troposphere. Therefore, it was believed that gases in the stratosphere are divided into layers in accordance with their specific gravities. Hence the name stratosphere (“stratus” - layered). It was also believed that the temperature in the stratosphere is formed under the influence of radiative equilibrium, that is, when absorbed and reflected solar radiation is equal.

New data obtained from radiosondes and weather rockets have shown that the stratosphere, like the upper troposphere, experiences intense air circulation with large changes in temperature and wind. Here, as in the troposphere, the air experiences significant vertical movements and turbulent movements with strong horizontal air currents. All this is the result of a non-uniform temperature distribution.

The transition layer between the stratosphere and the overlying sphere is stratopause. However, before moving on to the characteristics of higher layers of the atmosphere, let us become familiar with the so-called ozonosphere, the boundaries of which approximately correspond to the boundaries of the stratosphere.

Ozone in the atmosphere. Ozone plays a large role in creating temperature regimes and air currents in the stratosphere. Ozone (O 3) is felt by us after a thunderstorm when we inhale clean air with a pleasant aftertaste. However, here we will not talk about this ozone formed after a thunderstorm, but about the ozone contained in the 10-60 layer km with a maximum at an altitude of 22-25 km. Ozone is formed under the influence of ultraviolet rays from the Sun and, although its total amount is small, plays an important role in the atmosphere. Ozone has the ability to absorb ultraviolet radiation from the Sun and thereby protects flora and fauna from its destructive effects. Even that insignificant fraction of ultraviolet rays that reaches the surface of the earth severely burns the body when a person is overly keen on sunbathing.

The amount of ozone varies over different parts of the Earth. There is more ozone in high latitudes, less in middle and low latitudes, and this amount varies depending on the changing seasons of the year. There is more ozone in spring, less in autumn. In addition, non-periodic fluctuations occur depending on the horizontal and vertical circulation of the atmosphere. Many atmospheric processes are closely related to ozone content, since it has a direct impact on the temperature field.

In winter, under polar night conditions, at high latitudes, radiation and cooling of the air occurs in the ozone layer. As a result, in the stratosphere of high latitudes (in the Arctic and Antarctic) in winter, a cold region is formed, a stratospheric cyclonic vortex with large horizontal temperature and pressure gradients, causing westerly winds over the mid-latitudes of the globe.

In summer, under polar day conditions, at high latitudes, the ozone layer absorbs solar heat and warms the air. As a result of an increase in temperature in the stratosphere at high latitudes, a heat region and a stratospheric anticyclonic vortex are formed. Therefore, above the middle latitudes of the globe above 20 km In summer, easterly winds predominate in the stratosphere.

Mesosphere. Observations using meteorological rockets and other methods have established that the general increase in temperature observed in the stratosphere ends at altitudes of 50-55 km. Above this layer, the temperature decreases again and at the upper boundary of the mesosphere (about 80 km) reaches -75°, -90°. Then the temperature increases again with height.

It is interesting to note that the decrease in temperature with height, characteristic of the mesosphere, occurs differently at different latitudes and throughout the year. In low latitudes, the temperature drop occurs more slowly than in high latitudes: the average vertical temperature gradient for the mesosphere is respectively 0.23° - 0.31° per 100 m or 2.3°-3.1° per 1 km. In summer it is much larger than in winter. As the latest research in high latitudes has shown, the temperature at the upper boundary of the mesosphere in summer is several tens of degrees lower than in winter. In the upper mesosphere at an altitude of about 80 km In the mesopause layer, the decrease in temperature with height stops and its increase begins. Here, under the inversion layer at dusk or before sunrise in clear weather, shiny thin clouds are observed, illuminated by the sun below the horizon. Against the dark background of the sky they glow with a silvery-blue light. That's why these clouds are called noctilucent.

The nature of noctilucent clouds has not yet been sufficiently studied. For a long time it was believed that they consisted of volcanic dust. However, the lack of optical phenomena characteristic of real volcanic clouds led to the abandonment of this hypothesis. It was then suggested that noctilucent clouds were composed of cosmic dust. In recent years, a hypothesis has been proposed that these clouds are composed of ice crystals, like ordinary cirrus clouds. The level of noctilucent clouds is determined by the blocking layer due to temperature inversion during the transition from the mesosphere to the thermosphere at an altitude of about 80 km. Since the temperature in the sub-inversion layer reaches -80° and below, the most favorable conditions are created here for the condensation of water vapor, which enters here from the stratosphere as a result of vertical movement or by turbulent diffusion. Noctilucent clouds are usually observed in the summer, sometimes in very large numbers and for several months.

Observations of noctilucent clouds have established that in summer the winds at their level are highly variable. Wind speeds vary widely: from 50-100 to several hundred kilometers per hour.

Temperature at altitudes. A visual representation of the nature of the temperature distribution with height, between the earth's surface and altitudes of 90-100 km, in winter and summer in the northern hemisphere, is given by Figure 5. The surfaces separating the spheres are shown here with thick dashed lines. At the very bottom, the troposphere is clearly visible with a characteristic decrease in temperature with height. Above the tropopause, in the stratosphere, on the contrary, the temperature generally increases with height and at altitudes of 50-55 km reaches + 10°, -10°. Let's pay attention to an important detail. In winter, in the stratosphere of high latitudes, the temperature above the tropopause drops from -60 to -75° and only above 30 km again increases to -15°. In summer, starting from the tropopause, the temperature rises with altitude by 50 km reaches + 10°. Above the stratopause, the temperature decreases again with height, and at a level of 80 km it does not exceed -70°, -90°.

From Figure 5 it follows that in the layer 10-40 km The air temperature in winter and summer at high latitudes is sharply different. In winter, under polar night conditions, the temperature here reaches -60°, -75°, and in summer a minimum of -45° is near the tropopause. Above the tropopause, the temperature increases at altitudes of 30-35 km is only -30°, -20°, which is caused by the heating of the air in the ozone layer under polar day conditions. It also follows from the figure that even in the same season and at the same level, the temperature is not the same. Their difference between different latitudes exceeds 20-30°. In this case, the heterogeneity is especially significant in the layer of low temperatures (18-30 km) and in the layer of maximum temperatures (50-60 km) in the stratosphere, as well as in the layer of low temperatures in the upper mesosphere (75-85km).

The average temperatures shown in Figure 5 are obtained from observational data in the northern hemisphere, however, judging by the available information, they can also be attributed to the southern hemisphere. Some differences exist mainly at high latitudes. Over Antarctica in winter, the air temperature in the troposphere and lower stratosphere is noticeably lower than over the Central Arctic.

Winds at heights. The seasonal distribution of temperature is determined by a rather complex system of air currents in the stratosphere and mesosphere.

Figure 6 shows a vertical section of the wind field in the atmosphere between the earth's surface and a height of 90 km in winter and summer over the northern hemisphere. The isolines depict the average speeds of the prevailing wind (in m/sec). It follows from the figure that the wind regime in winter and summer in the stratosphere is sharply different. In winter, both the troposphere and stratosphere are dominated by westerly winds with maximum speeds of about

100 m/sec at an altitude of 60-65 km. In summer, westerly winds prevail only up to heights of 18-20 km. Higher up they become eastern, with maximum speeds up to 70 m/sec at an altitude of 55-60km.

In summer, above the mesosphere, the winds become westerly, and in winter - eastern.

Thermosphere. Above the mesosphere is the thermosphere, which is characterized by an increase in temperature With height. According to the data obtained, mainly with the help of rockets, it was established that in the thermosphere already at a level of 150 km air temperature reaches 220-240°, and at 200 km more than 500°. Above the temperature continues to rise and at the level of 500-600 km exceeds 1500°. Based on data obtained from the launches of artificial Earth satellites, it was found that in the upper thermosphere the temperature reaches about 2000° and fluctuates significantly during the day. The question arises as to how to explain such high temperatures in the high layers of the atmosphere. Recall that the temperature of a gas is a measure of the average speed of movement of molecules. In the lower, densest part of the atmosphere, the molecules of the gases that make up the air often collide with each other when moving and instantly transfer kinetic energy to each other. Therefore, the kinetic energy in a dense medium is on average the same. In high layers, where the air density is very low, collisions between molecules located at large distances occur less frequently. When energy is absorbed, the speed of molecules changes greatly between collisions; in addition, molecules of lighter gases move at higher speeds than molecules of heavy gases. As a result, the temperature of the gases may be different.

In rarefied gases there are relatively few molecules of very small sizes (light gases). If they move at high speeds, then the temperature in a given volume of air will be high. In the thermosphere, every cubic centimeter of air contains tens and hundreds of thousands of molecules of various gases, while at the surface of the earth there are about hundreds of millions of billions of them. Therefore, excessively high temperatures in the high layers of the atmosphere, showing the speed of movement of molecules in this very loose environment, cannot cause even slight heating of the body located here. Just as a person does not feel high temperature under the dazzling light of electric lamps, although the filaments in a rarefied environment instantly heat up to several thousand degrees.

In the lower thermosphere and mesosphere, the main part of meteor showers burns up before reaching the earth's surface.

Available information about atmospheric layers above 60-80 km are still insufficient for final conclusions about the structure, regime and processes developing in them. However, it is known that in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere the temperature regime is created as a result of the transformation of molecular oxygen (O 2) into atomic oxygen (O), which occurs under the influence of ultraviolet solar radiation. In the thermosphere, the temperature regime is greatly influenced by corpuscular, x-ray and. ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Here, even during the day, there are sharp changes in temperature and wind.

Ionization of the atmosphere. The most interesting feature of the atmosphere is above 60-80 km is hers ionization, i.e., the process of formation of a huge number of electrically charged particles - ions. Since the ionization of gases is characteristic of the lower thermosphere, it is also called the ionosphere.

Gases in the ionosphere are mostly in an atomic state. Under the influence of ultraviolet and corpuscular radiation from the Sun, which have high energy, the process of splitting off electrons from neutral atoms and air molecules occurs. Such atoms and molecules that have lost one or more electrons become positively charged, and the free electron can rejoin a neutral atom or molecule and endow it with its negative charge. Such positively and negatively charged atoms and molecules are called ions, and gases - ionized, i.e., having received an electric charge. At higher concentrations of ions, gases become electrically conductive.

The ionization process occurs most intensively in thick layers limited by heights of 60-80 and 220-400 km. In these layers there are optimal conditions for ionization. Here, the air density is noticeably greater than in the upper atmosphere, and the supply of ultraviolet and corpuscular radiation from the Sun is sufficient for the ionization process.

The discovery of the ionosphere is one of the important and brilliant achievements of science. After all, a distinctive feature of the ionosphere is its influence on the propagation of radio waves. In the ionized layers, radio waves are reflected, and therefore long-distance radio communication becomes possible. Charged atoms-ions reflect short radio waves, and they return to the earth's surface again, but at a considerable distance from the place of radio transmission. Obviously, short radio waves make this path several times, and thus long-distance radio communication is ensured. If it were not for the ionosphere, then it would be necessary to build expensive radio relay lines to transmit radio signals over long distances.

However, it is known that sometimes radio communications on short waves are disrupted. This occurs as a result of chromospheric flares on the Sun, due to which the ultraviolet radiation of the Sun sharply increases, leading to strong disturbances of the ionosphere and the Earth's magnetic field - magnetic storms. During magnetic storms, radio communications are disrupted, since the movement of charged particles depends on the magnetic field. During magnetic storms, the ionosphere reflects radio waves worse or transmits them into space. Mainly with changes in solar activity, accompanied by increased ultraviolet radiation, the electron density of the ionosphere and the absorption of radio waves during the daytime increase, leading to disruption of short-wave radio communications.

According to new research, in a powerful ionized layer there are zones where the concentration of free electrons reaches a slightly higher concentration than in neighboring layers. Four such zones are known, which are located at altitudes of about 60-80, 100-120, 180-200 and 300-400 km and are designated by letters D, E, F 1 And F 2 . With increasing radiation from the Sun, charged particles (corpuscles) under the influence of the Earth's magnetic field are deflected towards high latitudes. Upon entering the atmosphere, the corpuscles increase the ionization of gases so much that they begin to glow. This is how they arise auroras- in the form of beautiful multicolored arcs that light up in the night sky mainly in the high latitudes of the Earth. Auroras are accompanied by strong magnetic storms. In such cases, auroras become visible in mid-latitudes, and in rare cases even in the tropical zone. For example, the intense aurora observed on January 21 - 22, 1957 was visible in almost all southern regions of our country.

By photographing auroras from two points located at a distance of several tens of kilometers, the height of the auroras is determined with great accuracy. Usually auroras are located at an altitude of about 100 km, They are often found at an altitude of several hundred kilometers, and sometimes at a level of about 1000 km. Although the nature of the auroras has been clarified, there are still many unresolved questions related to this phenomenon. The reasons for the diversity of forms of auroras are still unknown.

According to the third Soviet satellite, between altitudes 200 and 1000 km During the day, positive ions of split molecular oxygen, i.e., atomic oxygen (O), predominate. Soviet scientists are exploring the ionosphere using artificial satellites of the Cosmos series. American scientists also study the ionosphere using satellites.

The surface separating the thermosphere from the exosphere experiences fluctuations depending on changes in solar activity and other factors. Vertically, these fluctuations reach 100-200 km and more.

Exosphere (scattering sphere) - the uppermost part of the atmosphere, located above 800 km. It has been little studied. According to observational data and theoretical calculations, the temperature in the exosphere increases with altitude, presumably up to 2000°. Unlike the lower ionosphere, in the exosphere the gases are so rarefied that their particles, moving at enormous speeds, almost never meet each other.

Until relatively recently, it was assumed that the conventional boundary of the atmosphere is at an altitude of about 1000 km. However, based on the braking of artificial Earth satellites, it has been established that at altitudes of 700-800 km at 1 cm 3 contains up to 160 thousand positive ions of atomic oxygen and nitrogen. This suggests that the charged layers of the atmosphere extend into space over a much greater distance.

At high temperatures at the conventional boundary of the atmosphere, the speeds of gas particles reach approximately 12 km/sec. At these speeds, gases gradually escape from the region of gravity into interplanetary space. This happens over a long period of time. For example, particles of hydrogen and helium are removed into interplanetary space over several years.

In the study of high layers of the atmosphere, rich data was obtained both from satellites of the Cosmos and Electron series, and from geophysical rockets and space stations Mars-1, Luna-4, etc. Direct observations of astronauts also turned out to be valuable. Thus, according to photographs taken in space by V. Nikolaeva-Tereshkova, it was established that at an altitude of 19 km There is a dust layer from the Earth. This was confirmed by data obtained by the crew of the Voskhod spacecraft. Apparently, there is a close connection between the dust layer and the so-called pearly clouds, sometimes observed at altitudes of about 20-30km.

From the atmosphere to outer space. Previous assumptions that beyond the Earth's atmosphere, in the interplanetary

space, gases are very rarefied and the concentration of particles does not exceed several units in 1 cm 3, didn't come true. Research has shown that near-Earth space is filled with charged particles. On this basis, a hypothesis was put forward about the existence of zones around the Earth with a noticeably increased content of charged particles, i.e. radiation belts- internal and external. New data helped clarify things. It turned out that there are also charged particles between the inner and outer radiation belts. Their number varies depending on geomagnetic and solar activity. Thus, according to the new assumption, instead of radiation belts, there are radiation zones without clearly defined boundaries. The boundaries of radiation zones change depending on solar activity. When it intensifies, that is, when spots and jets of gas appear on the Sun, ejected over hundreds of thousands of kilometers, the flow of cosmic particles increases, which feed the Earth's radiation zones.

Radiation zones are dangerous for people flying on spacecraft. Therefore, before a flight into space, the state and position of radiation zones are determined, and the orbit of the spacecraft is chosen so that it passes outside areas of increased radiation. However, the high layers of the atmosphere, as well as outer space close to the Earth, have still been little explored.

The study of the high layers of the atmosphere and near-Earth space uses rich data obtained from Cosmos satellites and space stations.

The high layers of the atmosphere are the least studied. However, modern methods of its research allow us to hope that in the coming years people will know many details of the structure of the atmosphere at the bottom of which they live.

In conclusion, we present a schematic vertical section of the atmosphere (Fig. 7). Here, altitudes in kilometers and air pressure in millimeters are plotted vertically, and temperature is plotted horizontally. The solid curve shows the change in air temperature with height. At the corresponding altitudes, the most important phenomena observed in the atmosphere are noted, as well as the maximum altitudes reached by radiosondes and other means of sensing the atmosphere.

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Subtitles

Atmospheric boundary

The atmosphere is considered to be that region around the Earth in which the gaseous medium rotates together with the Earth as a single whole. The atmosphere passes into interplanetary space gradually, in the exosphere, starting at an altitude of 500-1000 km from the Earth's surface.

According to the definition proposed by the International Aviation Federation, the boundary of the atmosphere and space is drawn along the Karman line, located at an altitude of about 100 km, above which aviation flights become completely impossible. NASA uses the 122 kilometers (400,000 ft) mark as the atmospheric limit, where the shuttles switch from powered maneuvering to aerodynamic maneuvering.

Physical properties

In addition to the gases indicated in the table, the atmosphere contains Cl 2, SO 2, NH 3, CO, O 3, NO 2, hydrocarbons, HCl, HBr, vapors, I 2, Br 2, as well as many other gases in minor amounts quantities. The troposphere constantly contains a large amount of suspended solid and liquid particles (aerosol). The rarest gas in the Earth's atmosphere is radon (Rn).

The structure of the atmosphere

Atmospheric boundary layer

The lower layer of the troposphere (1-2 km thick), in which the state and properties of the Earth's surface directly affect the dynamics of the atmosphere.

Troposphere

Its upper limit is at an altitude of 8-10 km in polar, 10-12 km in temperate and 16-18 km in tropical latitudes; lower in winter than in summer.
The lower, main layer of the atmosphere contains more than 80% of the total mass of atmospheric air and about 90% of all water vapor present in the atmosphere. Turbulence and convection are highly developed in the troposphere, clouds arise, and cyclones and anticyclones develop. Temperature decreases with increasing altitude with an average vertical gradient of 0.65°/100 meters.

Tropopause

The transition layer from the troposphere to the stratosphere, a layer of the atmosphere in which the decrease in temperature with height stops.

Stratosphere

A layer of the atmosphere located at an altitude of 11 to 50 km. Characterized by a slight change in temperature in the 11-25 km layer (lower layer of the stratosphere) and an increase in temperature in the 25-40 km layer from −56.5 to +0.8 ° (upper layer of the stratosphere or inversion region). Having reached a value of about 273 K (almost 0 °C) at an altitude of about 40 km, the temperature remains constant up to an altitude of about 55 km. This region of constant temperature is called the stratopause and is the boundary between the stratosphere and mesosphere.

Stratopause

The boundary layer of the atmosphere between the stratosphere and mesosphere. In the vertical temperature distribution there is a maximum (about 0 °C).

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

The upper limit is about 800 km. The temperature rises to altitudes of 200-300 km, where it reaches values ​​of the order of 1500 K, after which it remains almost constant to high altitudes. Under the influence of solar radiation and cosmic radiation, ionization of the air (“auroras”) occurs - the main regions of the ionosphere lie inside the thermosphere. At altitudes above 300 km, atomic oxygen predominates. The upper limit of the thermosphere is largely determined by the current activity of the Sun. During periods of low activity - for example, in 2008-2009 - there is a noticeable decrease in the size of this layer.

Thermopause

The region of the atmosphere adjacent above the thermosphere. In this region, the absorption of solar radiation is negligible and the temperature does not actually change with altitude.

Exosphere (scattering sphere)

Up to an altitude of 100 km, the atmosphere is a homogeneous, well-mixed mixture of gases. In higher layers, the distribution of gases by height depends on their molecular masses; the concentration of heavier gases decreases faster with distance from the Earth's surface. Due to the decrease in gas density, the temperature drops from 0 °C in the stratosphere to −110 °C in the mesosphere. However, the kinetic energy of individual particles at altitudes of 200-250 km corresponds to a temperature of ~150 °C. Above 200 km, significant fluctuations in temperature and gas density in time and space are observed.

At an altitude of about 2000-3500 km, the exosphere gradually turns into the so-called near space vacuum, which is filled with rare particles of interplanetary gas, mainly hydrogen atoms. But this gas represents only part of the interplanetary matter. The other part consists of dust particles of cometary and meteoric origin. In addition to extremely rarefied dust particles, electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation of solar and galactic origin penetrates into this space.

Review

The troposphere accounts for about 80% of the mass of the atmosphere, the stratosphere - about 20%; the mass of the mesosphere is no more than 0.3%, the thermosphere is less than 0.05% of the total mass of the atmosphere.

Based on electrical properties in the atmosphere, they distinguish neutrosphere And ionosphere .

Depending on the composition of the gas in the atmosphere, they emit homosphere And heterosphere. Heterosphere- This is the area where gravity affects the separation of gases, since their mixing at such an altitude is negligible. This implies a variable composition of the heterosphere. Below it lies a well-mixed, homogeneous part of the atmosphere, called the homosphere. The boundary between these layers is called the turbopause, it lies at an altitude of about 120 km.

Other properties of the atmosphere and effects on the human body

Already at an altitude of 5 km above sea level, an untrained person begins to experience oxygen starvation and without adaptation, a person’s performance is significantly reduced. The physiological zone of the atmosphere ends here. Human breathing becomes impossible at an altitude of 9 km, although up to approximately 115 km the atmosphere contains oxygen.

The atmosphere supplies us with the oxygen necessary for breathing. However, due to the drop in the total pressure of the atmosphere as you rise to altitude, the partial pressure of oxygen decreases accordingly.

History of atmospheric formation

According to the most common theory, the Earth's atmosphere has had three different compositions throughout its history. Initially, it consisted of light gases (hydrogen and helium) captured from interplanetary space. This is the so-called primary atmosphere. At the next stage, active volcanic activity led to the saturation of the atmosphere with gases other than hydrogen (carbon dioxide, ammonia, water vapor). This is how it was formed secondary atmosphere. This atmosphere was restorative. Further, the process of atmosphere formation was determined by the following factors:

• leakage of light gases (hydrogen and helium) into interplanetary space;
• chemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, lightning discharges and some other factors.

Gradually these factors led to the formation tertiary atmosphere, characterized by a much lower content of hydrogen and a much higher content of nitrogen and carbon dioxide (formed as a result of chemical reactions from ammonia and hydrocarbons).

Nitrogen

The formation of a large amount of nitrogen N2 is due to the oxidation of the ammonia-hydrogen atmosphere by molecular oxygen O2, which began to come from the surface of the planet as a result of photosynthesis, starting 3 billion years ago. Nitrogen N2 is also released into the atmosphere as a result of denitrification of nitrates and other nitrogen-containing compounds. Nitrogen is oxidized by ozone to NO in the upper atmosphere.

Nitrogen N 2 reacts only under specific conditions (for example, during a lightning discharge). The oxidation of molecular nitrogen by ozone during electrical discharges is used in small quantities in the industrial production of nitrogen fertilizers. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and nodule bacteria, which form rhizobial symbiosis with leguminous plants, which can be effective green manures - plants that do not deplete, but enrich the soil with natural fertilizers, can oxidize it with low energy consumption and convert it into a biologically active form.

Oxygen

The composition of the atmosphere began to change radically with the appearance of living organisms on Earth as a result of photosynthesis, accompanied by the release of oxygen and the absorption of carbon dioxide. Initially, oxygen was spent on the oxidation of reduced compounds - ammonia, hydrocarbons, ferrous form of iron contained in the oceans and others. At the end of this stage, the oxygen content in the atmosphere began to increase. Gradually, a modern atmosphere with oxidizing properties formed. Since this caused serious and abrupt changes in many processes occurring in the atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere, this event was called the Oxygen Catastrophe.

Noble gases

Air pollution

Recently, humans have begun to influence the evolution of the atmosphere. The result of human activity has been a constant increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels accumulated in previous geological eras. Enormous amounts of CO 2 are consumed during photosynthesis and absorbed by the world's oceans. This gas enters the atmosphere due to the decomposition of carbonate rocks and organic substances of plant and animal origin, as well as due to volcanism and human industrial activity. Over the past 100 years, the content of CO 2 in the atmosphere has increased by 10%, with the bulk (360 billion tons) coming from fuel combustion. If the growth rate of fuel combustion continues, then in the next 200-300 years the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere will double and could lead to global climate change.

Fuel combustion is the main source of polluting gases (CO, SO2). Sulfur dioxide is oxidized by atmospheric oxygen to SO 3, and nitrogen oxide to NO 2 in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which in turn interact with water vapor, and the resulting sulfuric acid H 2 SO 4 and nitric acid HNO 3 fall to the surface of the Earth in the form so-called acid rain. Usage

At 0 °C - 1.0048·10 3 J/(kg·K), C v - 0.7159·10 3 J/(kg·K) (at 0 °C). Solubility of air in water (by mass) at 0 °C - 0.0036%, at 25 °C - 0.0023%.

In addition to the gases indicated in the table, the atmosphere contains Cl 2, SO 2, NH 3, CO, O 3, NO 2, hydrocarbons, HCl, HBr, vapors, I 2, Br 2, as well as many other gases in minor amounts quantities. The troposphere constantly contains a large amount of suspended solid and liquid particles (aerosol). The rarest gas in the Earth's atmosphere is radon (Rn).

The structure of the atmosphere

Atmospheric boundary layer

The lower layer of the atmosphere adjacent to the Earth's surface (1-2 km thick) in which the influence of this surface directly affects its dynamics.

Troposphere

Its upper limit is at an altitude of 8-10 km in polar, 10-12 km in temperate and 16-18 km in tropical latitudes; lower in winter than in summer. The lower, main layer of the atmosphere contains more than 80% of the total mass of atmospheric air and about 90% of all water vapor present in the atmosphere. Turbulence and convection are highly developed in the troposphere, clouds arise, and cyclones and anticyclones develop. Temperature decreases with increasing altitude with an average vertical gradient of 0.65°/100 m

Tropopause

The transition layer from the troposphere to the stratosphere, a layer of the atmosphere in which the decrease in temperature with height stops.

Stratosphere

A layer of the atmosphere located at an altitude of 11 to 50 km. Characterized by a slight change in temperature in the 11-25 km layer (lower layer of the stratosphere) and an increase in temperature in the 25-40 km layer from −56.5 to 0.8 ° (upper layer of the stratosphere or inversion region). Having reached a value of about 273 K (almost 0 °C) at an altitude of about 40 km, the temperature remains constant up to an altitude of about 55 km. This region of constant temperature is called the stratopause and is the boundary between the stratosphere and mesosphere.

Stratopause

The boundary layer of the atmosphere between the stratosphere and mesosphere. In the vertical temperature distribution there is a maximum (about 0 °C).

Mesosphere

The mesosphere begins at an altitude of 50 km and extends to 80-90 km. Temperature decreases with height with an average vertical gradient of (0.25-0.3)°/100 m. The main energy process is radiant heat transfer. Complex photochemical processes involving free radicals, vibrationally excited molecules, etc. cause the glow of the atmosphere.

Mesopause

Transitional layer between the mesosphere and thermosphere. There is a minimum in the vertical temperature distribution (about -90 °C).

Karman Line

The height above sea level, which is conventionally accepted as the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and space. According to the FAI definition, the Karman line is located at an altitude of 100 km above sea level.

Thermosphere

The upper limit is about 800 km. The temperature rises to altitudes of 200-300 km, where it reaches values ​​of the order of 1226.85 C, after which it remains almost constant to high altitudes. Under the influence of solar radiation and cosmic radiation, ionization of the air (“ auroras”) occurs - the main regions of the ionosphere lie inside the thermosphere. At altitudes above 300 km, atomic oxygen predominates. The upper limit of the thermosphere is largely determined by the current activity of the Sun. During periods of low activity - for example, in 2008-2009 - there is a noticeable decrease in the size of this layer.

Thermopause

The region of the atmosphere adjacent above the thermosphere. In this region, the absorption of solar radiation is negligible and the temperature does not actually change with altitude.

Exosphere (scattering sphere)

Up to an altitude of 100 km, the atmosphere is a homogeneous, well-mixed mixture of gases. In higher layers, the distribution of gases by height depends on their molecular masses; the concentration of heavier gases decreases faster with distance from the Earth's surface. Due to the decrease in gas density, the temperature drops from 0 °C in the stratosphere to −110 °C in the mesosphere. However, the kinetic energy of individual particles at altitudes of 200-250 km corresponds to a temperature of ~150 °C. Above 200 km, significant fluctuations in temperature and gas density in time and space are observed.

At an altitude of about 2000-3500 km, the exosphere gradually turns into the so-called near space vacuum, which is filled with highly rarefied particles of interplanetary gas, mainly hydrogen atoms. But this gas represents only part of the interplanetary matter. The other part consists of dust particles of cometary and meteoric origin. In addition to extremely rarefied dust particles, electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation of solar and galactic origin penetrates into this space.

Review

The troposphere accounts for about 80% of the mass of the atmosphere, the stratosphere - about 20%; the mass of the mesosphere is no more than 0.3%, the thermosphere is less than 0.05% of the total mass of the atmosphere.

Based on electrical properties in the atmosphere, they distinguish neutrosphere And ionosphere .

Depending on the composition of the gas in the atmosphere, they emit homosphere And heterosphere. Heterosphere- This is the area where gravity affects the separation of gases, since their mixing at such an altitude is negligible. This implies a variable composition of the heterosphere. Below it lies a well-mixed, homogeneous part of the atmosphere, called the homosphere. The boundary between these layers is called the turbopause, it lies at an altitude of about 120 km.

Other properties of the atmosphere and effects on the human body

Already at an altitude of 5 km above sea level, an untrained person begins to experience oxygen starvation and without adaptation, a person’s performance is significantly reduced. The physiological zone of the atmosphere ends here. Human breathing becomes impossible at an altitude of 9 km, although up to approximately 115 km the atmosphere contains oxygen.

The atmosphere supplies us with the oxygen necessary for breathing. However, due to the drop in the total pressure of the atmosphere as you rise to altitude, the partial pressure of oxygen decreases accordingly.

In rarefied layers of air, sound propagation is impossible. Up to altitudes of 60-90 km, it is still possible to use air resistance and lift for controlled aerodynamic flight. But starting from altitudes of 100-130 km, the concepts of the M number and the sound barrier, familiar to every pilot, lose their meaning: there passes the conventional Karman line, beyond which the region of purely ballistic flight begins, which can only be controlled using reactive forces.

At altitudes above 100 km, the atmosphere is deprived of another remarkable property - the ability to absorb, conduct and transmit thermal energy by convection (that is, by mixing air). This means that various elements of equipment on the orbital space station will not be able to be cooled from the outside in the same way as is usually done on an airplane - with the help of air jets and air radiators. At this altitude, as in space generally, the only way to transfer heat is thermal radiation.

History of atmospheric formation

According to the most common theory, the Earth's atmosphere has had three different compositions throughout its history. Initially, it consisted of light gases (hydrogen and helium) captured from interplanetary space. This is the so-called primary atmosphere. At the next stage, active volcanic activity led to the saturation of the atmosphere with gases other than hydrogen (carbon dioxide, ammonia, water vapor). This is how it was formed secondary atmosphere. This atmosphere was restorative. Further, the process of atmosphere formation was determined by the following factors:

• leakage of light gases (hydrogen and helium) into interplanetary space;
• chemical reactions occurring in the atmosphere under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, lightning discharges and some other factors.

Gradually these factors led to the formation tertiary atmosphere, characterized by a much lower content of hydrogen and a much higher content of nitrogen and carbon dioxide (formed as a result of chemical reactions from ammonia and hydrocarbons).

Nitrogen

The formation of a large amount of nitrogen N2 is due to the oxidation of the ammonia-hydrogen atmosphere by molecular oxygen O2, which began to come from the surface of the planet as a result of photosynthesis, starting 3 billion years ago. Nitrogen N2 is also released into the atmosphere as a result of denitrification of nitrates and other nitrogen-containing compounds. Nitrogen is oxidized by ozone to NO in the upper atmosphere.

Nitrogen N 2 reacts only under specific conditions (for example, during a lightning discharge). The oxidation of molecular nitrogen by ozone during electrical discharges is used in small quantities in the industrial production of nitrogen fertilizers. Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and nodule bacteria that form rhizobial symbiosis with leguminous plants, which can be effective green manures - plants that do not deplete, but enrich the soil with natural fertilizers, can oxidize it with low energy consumption and convert it into a biologically active form.

Oxygen

The composition of the atmosphere began to change radically with the appearance of living organisms on Earth, as a result of photosynthesis, accompanied by the release of oxygen and the absorption of carbon dioxide. Initially, oxygen was spent on the oxidation of reduced compounds - ammonia, hydrocarbons, ferrous form of iron contained in the oceans, etc. At the end of this stage, the oxygen content in the atmosphere began to increase. Gradually, a modern atmosphere with oxidizing properties formed. Since this caused serious and abrupt changes in many processes occurring in the atmosphere, lithosphere and biosphere, this event was called the Oxygen Catastrophe.

Noble gases

Air pollution

Recently, humans have begun to influence the evolution of the atmosphere. The result of human activity has been a constant increase in the content of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels accumulated in previous geological eras. Huge amounts of CO 2 are consumed during photosynthesis and absorbed by the world's oceans. This gas enters the atmosphere due to the decomposition of carbonate rocks and organic substances of plant and animal origin, as well as due to volcanism and human industrial activity. Over the past 100 years, the content of CO 2 in the atmosphere has increased by 10%, with the bulk (360 billion tons) coming from fuel combustion. If the growth rate of fuel combustion continues, then in the next 200-300 years the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere will double and could lead to global climate change.

Fuel combustion is the main source of polluting gases (CO, SO2). Sulfur dioxide is oxidized by atmospheric oxygen to SO 3, and nitrogen oxide to NO 2 in the upper layers of the atmosphere, which in turn interact with water vapor, and the resulting sulfuric acid H 2 SO 4 and nitric acid HNO 3 fall to the surface of the Earth in the form so-called acid rain. The use of internal combustion engines leads to significant atmospheric pollution with nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and lead compounds (tetraethyl lead Pb(CH 3 CH 2) 4).

Aerosol pollution of the atmosphere is caused by both natural causes (volcanic eruptions, dust storms, entrainment of drops of sea water and plant pollen, etc.) and human economic activities (mining ores and building materials, burning fuel, making cement, etc.). Intense large-scale release of particulate matter into the atmosphere is one of the possible causes of climate change on the planet.

See also

• Jacchia (atmosphere model)

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Notes

1. M. I. Budyko, K. Ya. Kondratiev Atmosphere of the Earth // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. / Ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1970. - T. 2. Angola - Barzas. - pp. 380-384.
2. - article from the Geological Encyclopedia
4. Gribbin, John. Science. A History (1543-2001). - L.: Penguin Books, 2003. - 648 p. - ISBN 978-0-140-29741-6.
5. Tans, Pieter. Globally averaged marine surface annual mean data. NOAA/ESRL. Retrieved February 19, 2014.(English) (as of 2013)
6. IPCC (English) (as of 1998).
7. S. P. Khromov Air humidity // Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 3rd ed. / Ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1971. - T. 5. Veshin - Gazli. - P. 149.
8. (English) SpaceDaily, 07/16/2010

Literature

1. V. V. Parin, F. P. Kosmolinsky, B. A. Dushkov“Space biology and medicine” (2nd edition, revised and expanded), M.: “Prosveshcheniye”, 1975, 223 pp.
2. N. V. Gusakova“Environmental Chemistry”, Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2004, 192 with ISBN 5-222-05386-5
3. Sokolov V. A. Geochemistry of natural gases, M., 1971;
4. McEwen M., Phillips L. Atmospheric Chemistry, M., 1978;
5. Wark K., Warner S. Air pollution. Sources and control, trans. from English, M.. 1980;
6. Monitoring of background pollution of natural environments. V. 1, L., 1982.

Links

• // December 17, 2013, FOBOS Center

Excerpt characterizing the Earth's Atmosphere

The next day, Prince Andrei went to the Rostovs for dinner, as Count Ilya Andreich called him, and spent the whole day with them.
Everyone in the house felt for whom Prince Andrei was traveling, and he, without hiding, tried to be with Natasha all day. Not only in Natasha’s frightened, but happy and enthusiastic soul, but throughout the whole house there was a sense of fear of something important that was about to happen. The Countess looked at Prince Andrei with sad and seriously stern eyes when he spoke to Natasha, and timidly and feignedly began some insignificant conversation as soon as he looked back at her. Sonya was afraid to leave Natasha and was afraid to be a hindrance when she was with them. Natasha turned pale with fear of anticipation when she remained alone with him for minutes. Prince Andrei amazed her with his timidity. She felt that he needed to tell her something, but that he could not bring himself to do so.
When Prince Andrey left in the evening, the Countess came up to Natasha and said in a whisper:
- Well?
“Mom, for God’s sake don’t ask me anything now.” “You can’t say that,” Natasha said.
But despite this, that evening Natasha, sometimes excited, sometimes frightened, with fixed eyes, lay for a long time in her mother’s bed. Either she told her how he praised her, then how he said that he would go abroad, then how he asked where they would live this summer, then how he asked her about Boris.
- But this, this... has never happened to me! - she said. “Only I’m scared in front of him, I’m always scared in front of him, what does that mean?” That means it's real, right? Mom, are you sleeping?
“No, my soul, I’m scared myself,” answered the mother. - Go.
- I won’t sleep anyway. What nonsense is it to sleep? Mom, mom, this has never happened to me! - she said with surprise and fear at the feeling that she recognized in herself. – And could we think!...
It seemed to Natasha that even when she first saw Prince Andrey in Otradnoye, she fell in love with him. She seemed to be frightened by this strange, unexpected happiness, that the one whom she had chosen back then (she was firmly sure of this), that the same one had now met her again, and, it seemed, was not indifferent to her. “And he had to come to St. Petersburg on purpose now that we are here. And we had to meet at this ball. It's all fate. It is clear that this is fate, that all this was leading to this. Even then, as soon as I saw him, I felt something special.”
- What else did he tell you? What verses are these? Read... - the mother said thoughtfully, asking about the poems that Prince Andrei wrote in Natasha’s album.
“Mom, isn’t it a shame that he’s a widower?”
- That's enough, Natasha. Pray to God. Les Marieiages se font dans les cieux. [Marriages are made in heaven.]
- Darling, mother, how I love you, how good it makes me feel! – Natasha shouted, crying tears of happiness and excitement and hugging her mother.
At the same time, Prince Andrei was sitting with Pierre and telling him about his love for Natasha and his firm intention to marry her.

On this day, Countess Elena Vasilyevna had a reception, there was a French envoy, there was a prince, who had recently become a frequent visitor to the countess’s house, and many brilliant ladies and men. Pierre was downstairs, walked through the halls, and amazed all the guests with his concentrated, absent-minded and gloomy appearance.
Since the time of the ball, Pierre had felt the approaching attacks of hypochondria and with desperate effort tried to fight against them. From the time the prince became close to his wife, Pierre was unexpectedly granted a chamberlain, and from that time on he began to feel heaviness and shame in large society, and more often the old gloomy thoughts about the futility of everything human began to come to him. At the same time, the feeling he noticed between Natasha, whom he protected, and Prince Andrei, his opposition between his position and the position of his friend, further intensified this gloomy mood. He equally tried to avoid thoughts about his wife and about Natasha and Prince Andrei. Again everything seemed insignificant to him in comparison with eternity, again the question presented itself: “why?” And he forced himself day and night to work on Masonic works, hoping to ward off the approach of the evil spirit. Pierre, at 12 o'clock, having left the countess's chambers, was sitting upstairs in a smoky, low room, in a worn dressing gown in front of the table, copying out authentic Scottish acts, when someone entered his room. It was Prince Andrei.
“Oh, it’s you,” said Pierre with an absent-minded and dissatisfied look. “And I’m working,” he said, pointing to a notebook with that look of salvation from the hardships of life with which unhappy people look at their work.
Prince Andrei, with a radiant, enthusiastic face and renewed life, stopped in front of Pierre and, not noticing his sad face, smiled at him with the egoism of happiness.
“Well, my soul,” he said, “yesterday I wanted to tell you and today I came to you for this.” I've never experienced anything like it. I'm in love, my friend.
Pierre suddenly sighed heavily and collapsed with his heavy body on the sofa, next to Prince Andrei.
- To Natasha Rostova, right? - he said.
- Yes, yes, who? I would never believe it, but this feeling is stronger than me. Yesterday I suffered, I suffered, but I wouldn’t give up this torment for anything in the world. I haven't lived before. Now only I live, but I can't live without her. But can she love me?... I'm too old for her... What aren't you saying?...
- I? I? “What did I tell you,” Pierre suddenly said, getting up and starting to walk around the room. - I always thought this... This girl is such a treasure, such... This is a rare girl... Dear friend, I ask you, don’t get smart, don’t doubt, get married, get married and get married... And I’m sure that there will be no happier person than you.
- But she!
- She loves you.
“Don’t talk nonsense...” said Prince Andrei, smiling and looking into Pierre’s eyes.
“He loves me, I know,” Pierre shouted angrily.
“No, listen,” said Prince Andrei, stopping him by the hand. – Do you know what situation I’m in? I need to tell everything to someone.
“Well, well, say, I’m very glad,” said Pierre, and indeed his face changed, the wrinkles smoothed out, and he joyfully listened to Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei seemed and was a completely different, new person. Where was his melancholy, his contempt for life, his disappointment? Pierre was the only person to whom he dared to speak; but he expressed to him everything that was in his soul. Either he easily and boldly made plans for a long future, talked about how he could not sacrifice his happiness for the whim of his father, how he would force his father to agree to this marriage and love her or do without his consent, then he was surprised how something strange, alien, independent of him, influenced by the feeling that possessed him.
“I wouldn’t believe anyone who told me that I could love like that,” said Prince Andrei. “This is not at all the feeling that I had before.” The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one - she and there is all the happiness of hope, light; the other half is everything where she is not there, there is all despondency and darkness...
“Darkness and gloom,” Pierre repeated, “yes, yes, I understand that.”
– I can’t help but love the world, it’s not my fault. And I'm very happy. Do you understand me? I know you're happy for me.
“Yes, yes,” Pierre confirmed, looking at his friend with tender and sad eyes. The brighter the fate of Prince Andrei seemed to him, the darker his own seemed.

To get married, the consent of the father was needed, and for this, the next day, Prince Andrei went to his father.
The father, with outward calm but inner anger, accepted his son's message. He could not understand that anyone would want to change life, to introduce something new into it, when life was already ending for him. “If only they would let me live the way I want, and then we would do what we wanted,” the old man said to himself. With his son, however, he used the diplomacy that he used on important occasions. Taking a calm tone, he discussed the whole matter.
Firstly, the marriage was not brilliant in terms of kinship, wealth and nobility. Secondly, Prince Andrei was not in his first youth and was in poor health (the old man was especially careful about this), and she was very young. Thirdly, there was a son whom it was a pity to give to the girl. Fourthly, finally,” said the father, looking mockingly at his son, “I ask you, postpone the matter for a year, go abroad, get treatment, find, as you want, a German for Prince Nikolai, and then, if it’s love, passion, stubbornness, whatever you want, so great, then get married.
“And this is my last word, you know, my last...” the prince finished in a tone that showed that nothing would force him to change his decision.
Prince Andrei clearly saw that the old man hoped that the feeling of him or his future bride would not withstand the test of the year, or that he himself, the old prince, would die by this time, and decided to fulfill his father’s will: to propose and postpone the wedding for a year.
Three weeks after his last evening with the Rostovs, Prince Andrei returned to St. Petersburg.

The next day after her explanation with her mother, Natasha waited the whole day for Bolkonsky, but he did not come. The next, third day the same thing happened. Pierre also did not come, and Natasha, not knowing that Prince Andrei had gone to his father, could not explain his absence.
Three weeks passed like this. Natasha did not want to go anywhere and, like a shadow, idle and sad, she walked from room to room, cried secretly from everyone in the evening and did not appear to her mother in the evenings. She was constantly blushing and irritated. It seemed to her that everyone knew about her disappointment, laughed and felt sorry for her. With all the strength of her inner grief, this vain grief intensified her misfortune.
One day she came to the countess, wanted to tell her something, and suddenly began to cry. Her tears were the tears of an offended child who himself does not know why he is being punished.
The Countess began to calm Natasha down. Natasha, who had been listening at first to her mother’s words, suddenly interrupted her:
- Stop it, mom, I don’t think, and I don’t want to think! So, I drove and stopped, and stopped...
Her voice trembled, she almost cried, but she recovered and calmly continued: “And I don’t want to get married at all.” And I'm afraid of him; I have now completely, completely calmed down...
The next day after this conversation, Natasha put on that old dress, which she was especially famous for the cheerfulness it brought in the morning, and in the morning she began her old way of life, from which she had fallen behind after the ball. After drinking tea, she went to the hall, which she especially loved for its strong resonance, and began to sing her solfeges (singing exercises). Having finished the first lesson, she stopped in the middle of the hall and repeated one musical phrase that she especially liked. She listened joyfully to the (as if unexpected for her) charm with which these shimmering sounds filled the entire emptiness of the hall and slowly froze, and she suddenly felt cheerful. “It’s good to think about it so much,” she said to herself and began to walk back and forth around the hall, not walking with simple steps on the ringing parquet floor, but at every step shifting from heel (she was wearing her new, favorite shoes) to toe, and just as joyfully as you listen to the sounds of your voice, listening to this measured clatter of a heel and the creaking of a sock. Passing by the mirror, she looked into it. - “Here I am!” as if the expression on her face when she saw herself spoke. - “Well, that’s good. And I don’t need anyone.”
The footman wanted to enter to clean something in the hall, but she did not let him in, again closing the door behind him, and continued her walk. This morning she returned again to her favorite state of self-love and admiration for herself. - “What a charm this Natasha is!” she said again to herself in the words of some third, collective, male person. “She’s good, she has a voice, she’s young, and she doesn’t bother anyone, just leave her alone.” But no matter how much they left her alone, she could no longer be calm and she immediately felt it.
The entrance door opened in the hallway, and someone asked: “Are you at home?” and someone's steps were heard. Natasha looked in the mirror, but she did not see herself. She listened to sounds in the hall. When she saw herself, her face was pale. It was him. She knew this for sure, although she barely heard the sound of his voice from the closed doors.
Natasha, pale and frightened, ran into the living room.
- Mom, Bolkonsky has arrived! - she said. - Mom, this is terrible, this is unbearable! – I don’t want... to suffer! What should I do?...
Before the countess even had time to answer her, Prince Andrei entered the living room with an anxious and serious face. As soon as he saw Natasha, his face lit up. He kissed the hand of the Countess and Natasha and sat down near the sofa.
“We haven’t had the pleasure for a long time...” the countess began, but Prince Andrei interrupted her, answering her question and obviously in a hurry to say what he needed.
“I wasn’t with you all this time because I was with my father: I needed to talk to him about a very important matter.” “I just returned last night,” he said, looking at Natasha. “I need to talk to you, Countess,” he added after a moment of silence.
The Countess, sighing heavily, lowered her eyes.
“I am at your service,” she said.
Natasha knew that she had to leave, but she could not do it: something was squeezing her throat, and she looked discourteously, directly, with open eyes at Prince Andrei.
"Now? This minute!... No, this can’t be!” she thought.
He looked at her again, and this look convinced her that she was not mistaken. “Yes, now, this very minute, her fate was being decided.”
“Come, Natasha, I’ll call you,” the countess said in a whisper.
Natasha looked at Prince Andrei and her mother with frightened, pleading eyes, and left.
“I came, Countess, to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage,” said Prince Andrei. The countess's face flushed, but she said nothing.
“Your proposal...” the countess began sedately. “He was silent, looking into her eyes. – Your offer... (she was embarrassed) we are pleased, and... I accept your offer, I’m glad. And my husband... I hope... but it will depend on her...
“I’ll tell her when I have your consent... do you give it to me?” - said Prince Andrei.
“Yes,” said the countess and extended her hand to him and, with a mixed feeling of aloofness and tenderness, pressed her lips to his forehead as he leaned over her hand. She wanted to love him like a son; but she felt that he was a stranger and a terrible person for her. “I’m sure my husband will agree,” said the countess, “but your father...
“My father, to whom I told my plans, made it an indispensable condition of consent that the wedding should take place no earlier than a year. And this is what I wanted to tell you,” said Prince Andrei.
– It’s true that Natasha is still young, but for so long.
“It couldn’t be otherwise,” said Prince Andrei with a sigh.
“I will send it to you,” said the countess and left the room.
“Lord, have mercy on us,” she repeated, looking for her daughter. Sonya said that Natasha is in the bedroom. Natasha sat on her bed, pale, with dry eyes, looking at the images and, quickly crossing herself, whispering something. Seeing her mother, she jumped up and rushed to her.
- What? Mom?... What?
- Go, go to him. “He asks for your hand,” the countess said coldly, as it seemed to Natasha... “Come... come,” the mother said with sadness and reproach after her fleeing daughter, and sighed heavily.
Natasha did not remember how she entered the living room. Entering the door and seeing him, she stopped. “Has this stranger really become everything to me now?” she asked herself and instantly answered: “Yes, that’s it: he alone is now dearer to me than everything in the world.” Prince Andrei approached her, lowering his eyes.
“I loved you from the moment I saw you.” Can I hope?
He looked at her, and the serious passion in her expression struck him. Her face said: “Why ask? Why doubt something you can’t help but know? Why talk when you can’t express in words what you feel.”
She approached him and stopped. He took her hand and kissed it.
- Do you love me?
“Yes, yes,” Natasha said as if with annoyance, sighed loudly, and another time, more and more often, and began to sob.
- About what? What's wrong with you?
“Oh, I’m so happy,” she answered, smiled through her tears, leaned closer to him, thought for a second, as if asking herself if this was possible, and kissed him.
Prince Andrei held her hands, looked into her eyes, and did not find in his soul the same love for her. Something suddenly turned in his soul: there was no former poetic and mysterious charm of desire, but there was pity for her feminine and childish weakness, there was fear of her devotion and gullibility, a heavy and at the same time joyful consciousness of the duty that forever connected him with her. The real feeling, although it was not as light and poetic as the previous one, was more serious and stronger.

The atmosphere is one of the most important components of our planet. It is she who “shelters” people from the harsh conditions of outer space, such as solar radiation and space debris. However, many facts about the atmosphere are unknown to most people.

1. True color of the sky

2. An exclusive element in the Earth's atmosphere

3. White stripe in the sky

4. Main layers of the atmosphere

5. Ozone layer

6. Mesosphere

7. Disappearance of the atmosphere

8. If there were no atmospheric gases...

9. Formation of the ozone layer

10. Ionosphere

11. Acid rain

12. Lightning power

14. Sunsets

Adherents of the theory of the apocalypse and various other horror stories will be interested in learning about.

The gaseous envelope around the globe is called the atmosphere, and the gas that forms it is called air. Depending on various physical and chemical properties, the atmosphere is divided into layers. What are they, layers of the atmosphere?

Temperature layers of the atmosphere

Depending on the distance from the earth’s surface, the temperature of the atmosphere changes and, therefore, it is divided into the following layers:
Troposphere. This is the “lowest” temperature layer of the atmosphere. In mid-latitudes its height is 10-12 kilometers, and in the tropics - 15-16 kilometers. In the troposphere, the temperature of atmospheric air decreases with increasing altitude, on average by about 0.65°C for every 100 meters.
Stratosphere. This layer is located above the troposphere, in the altitude range of 11-50 kilometers. Between the troposphere and stratosphere there is a transitional atmospheric layer - the tropopause. The average air temperature of the tropopause is -56.6°C, in the tropical region -80.5°C in winter and -66.5°C in summer. The temperature of the lower layer of the stratosphere itself slowly decreases by an average of 0.2°C for every 100 meters, and the upper layer increases and at the upper boundary of the stratosphere the air temperature is already 0°C.
Mesosphere. In the altitude range of 50-95 kilometers, above the stratosphere, the mesosphere atmospheric layer is located. It is separated from the stratosphere by the stratopause. The temperature of the mesosphere decreases with increasing altitude; on average, the decrease is 0.35°C for every 100 meters.
Thermosphere. This atmospheric layer is located above the mesosphere and is separated from it by the mesopause. The mesopause temperature ranges from -85 to -90°C, but with increasing altitude the thermosphere intensively heats up and in the altitude range of 200-300 kilometers it reaches 1500°C, after which it does not change. Heating of the thermosphere occurs as a result of the absorption of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun by oxygen.

Layers of the atmosphere divided by gas composition

Based on gas composition, the atmosphere is divided into homosphere and heterosphere. The homosphere is the lower layer of the atmosphere and its gas composition is homogeneous. The upper boundary of this layer passes at an altitude of 100 kilometers.

The heterosphere is located in the altitude range from the homosphere to the outer boundary of the atmosphere. Its gas composition is heterogeneous, since under the influence of solar and cosmic radiation, the air molecules of the heterosphere disintegrate into atoms (the process of photodissociation).

In the heterosphere, when molecules decay into atoms, charged particles are released - electrons and ions, which create a layer of ionized plasma - the ionosphere. The ionosphere is located from the upper boundary of the homosphere to altitudes of 400-500 kilometers; it has the property of reflecting radio waves, which allows us to carry out radio communications.

Above 800 kilometers, molecules of light atmospheric gases begin to escape into space, and this atmospheric layer is called the exosphere.

Layers of the atmosphere and ozone content

The maximum amount of ozone (chemical formula O3) is found in the atmosphere at an altitude of 20-25 kilometers. This is due to the large amount of oxygen in the air and the presence of hard solar radiation. These layers of the atmosphere are called the ozonosphere. Below the ozonosphere, the ozone content in the atmosphere decreases.