Earths Atmosphere

It is water that, in taking different forms, constitutes tlie earth, atmosphere, sky, mountain, gods and men, beasts and birds, grass and trees, animals down to worms, flies and ants,... 

Pollution, n the action of polluting the condition of being polluted. Pollute, vt [L. pollutus, past part, or polluere, to make physically impure or unclean] to defile, desecrate, profane-syn. see CONTAMINATE. Air, n [fr. L aer, fr. Gr. aer] 1. the mixture of invisible tasteless gases which surrounds the earth. Atmosphere, n [fr. Gr. (atmo and sphaira) 2. the whole mass of air surrounding the earth. . . ... 

Using Wien s displacement law, determine the mean effective temperature of the earth-atmosphere system if the resulting longwave radiation peaks at 11 /rm. Contrast the magnitude of the radiant flux at 11 pm with that at 50 pm. 

The weight of the earth s atmosphere pushing down on each unit of surface constitutes atmospheric pressure, which is 14.7 psi at sea level. This amount of pressure is called one atmosphere. Because the atmosphere is not evenly distributed about earth, atmospheric pressure can vary, depending upon geographic location. Also, obviously, atmospheric pressure decreases with higher altitude. A barometer using the height of a column of mercury or other suitable liquid measures atmospheric pressure. 

Very light gases, notably hydrogen and helium, tend to escape from the earths atmosphere. The hydrogen you generate in the laboratory today is well on its way into outer space tomorrow. A similar situation holds with helium, which is found in very limited quantities mixed with natural gas in wells below the earths surface. If helium is allowed to escape, it is gone forevei and our supply of this very usefiil gaseous element is depleted. 

Infrared optics is a fast growing area in which CVD plays a maj or role, particularly in the manufacture of optical IR windows. 1 The earths atmosphere absorbs much of the infrared radiation but possesses three important bandpasses (wavelengths where the transmission is high) at 1-3 im, 3-5 im and 8-17 pm. As shown in Table 16.2, only three materials can transmit in all these three bandpasses single crystal diamond, germanium, and zinc selenide. 

Abstract This is a tutorial about the main optical properties of the Earth atmosphere as it affects incoming radiation from astrophysical sources. Turbulence is a random process, of which statitical moments are described relying on the Kolmogorov model. The phase structure function and the Fried parameter ro are introduced. Analytical expressions of the degradation of the optical transfer function due to the turbulence, and the resulting Strehl ratio and anisoplanatism are derived. 

Hence, the radiative equilibrium temperature is sensitive to changes in the solar constant, planetary albedo, and the radiative properties of the earth-atmosphere-ocean system. In addition, changes internal to the earth-atmosphere-ocean system may alter the climate. Table I is an incomplete list of phenomena that individually or in concert could alter climate. 

Figure 2. Within the Earth-atmosphere system numerous feedback loops govern climate. (Reproduced with permission from ref. 31. Copyright 1974 American Association for the Advancement of Science.)...

In the early days of biogenesis research, only the primeval Earth atmosphere was regarded as being the place where biomolecules or their precursors could have been formed (the Miller era). Later on, the Earth s surface and, after the discov-... 

Stanley Miller at the University of Chicago more than 50 years ago. This experiment (in fact, of course, many were carried out prior to the successful one) is probably as well known as the Wohler synthesis of urea Miller s doctoral supervisor, Harold Urey (winner of the Nobel Prize in 1934), had suggested to Miller that he simulate a reducing primeval Earth atmosphere (as required by the Oparin-Haldane hypothesis) to electrical discharges and see what happens . Urey apparently expected that such an experiment would lead to a huge variety of organic compounds. 

The wavelengths at which most of the components of a primitive Earth atmosphere absorb lie, with few exceptions, under 200 nm. The exceptions include ammonia (< 230 nm), hydrogen sulphide (<260 nm) and ozone (180-300 nm). However, ozone was probably present in the primeval atmosphere only in trace amounts, since free oxygen was only available in extremely low concentrations. The young Earth thus had no protective ozone layer, so short-wavelength UV irradiation could readily penetrate the atmosphere. 

Cramer J (1973) Model of the circulation of DDT on Earth. Atmospheric Environment 7 241-256 Cziudaj G (2005) Die Rolle der Ozeane bei der globalen Verteilung von organischen Schadstoffen PCB als Modellsubstanzen. PhD thesis, Christian Albrechts University Kiel Dachs J, Bayona JM, Fowler SW, Miquel J, Albaiges J (1996) Vertical fluxes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and organochlorine compounds in the western Alboran Sea (southwestern Mediterranean). Marine Chemistry 52 75-86... 

Occurrence. Naturally occurring nitrogen (N2) makes up 78% (by volume) of the earth atmosphere. Nitrogen is relatively unabundant in the crustal rocks. The major minerals are saltpetre (KN03) andNaN03 (Chile saltpetre). 

Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, making up nearly half the mass of the Earths crust and nine-tenths of the total mass of water. Even the mass of our bodies consists of two-thirds oxygen. Oxygen is also the most abundant element in the Earths atmosphere at 20.947% by volume. 

Argon is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, chemically inert noble gas that makes up about 0.93% of the Earths atmosphere. It is the third most abundant gas in the atmosphere, meaning it is more common than carbon dioxide, helium, methane, and hydrogen. 

Krypton is the 81st most abundant element on Earth and ranks seventh in abundance of the gases that make up Earths atmosphere. It ranks just above methane (CH ) in abundance in the atmosphere. Krypton is expensive to produce and thus has hmited use. The gas is captured commercially by fractional distillation of liquid air. Krypton shows up as an impurity in the residue. Along with some other gases, it is removed by filtering through activated charcoal and titanium. 

Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary, AB CANADA Department of Earth Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB CANADA... 

In an oxidizing earth atmosphere, iron exists in its ferric state forming insoluble ferric hydroxide. Under aqueous aerobic conditions and neutral pH, the total concentration of... 

Olmez, I., and G. E. Gordon, "Rare Earths Atmospheric Signatures for Oil-Fired Power Plants and Refineries, Science, 229, 966-968 (1985). 

It is important to emphasize that because the greenhouse effect originates in radiative transfer processes in the earth-atmosphere system, the net effect of a... 

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