Experimental instruments used in atmospheric science include satellites, rocketsondes, radiosondes, weather balloons, and lasers. Earth's atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, and several other minor components. Atmosphere definition is - the gaseous envelope of a celestial body (such as a planet). The U.S. National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center also carries out studies of the high atmosphere. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing. The density of the atmosphere decreases outward, because the gravitational attraction of the planet, which pulls the gases and aerosols (microscopic suspended particles of dust, soot, smoke, or chemicals) inward, is greatest close to the surface. Atmosphere, the gas and aerosol envelope that extends from the ocean, land, and ice-covered surface of a planet outward into space. Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Atmospheres of some planetary bodies, such as Mercury, are almost nonexistent, as the primordial atmosphere has escaped the relatively low gravitational attraction of the planet and has been released into space. In order to model weather systems, atmospheric physicists employ elements of scattering theory, wave propagation models, cloud physics, statistical mechanics and spatial statistics, each of which incorporate high levels of mathematics and physics. The Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Department offers undergraduate preparation for professional careers in a wide range of fields in geoscience (which includes geology, geophysics, geobiology, and geochemistry), atmospheric science, climate science, environmental systems, and planetary science and planetary astronomy. Hunten D. M., Shemansky D. E., Morgan T. H. (1988), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Ultraviolet radiation in the solar system, "Hubble Probes Layer-cake Structure of Alien World's Atmosphere", Atmospheric fluid dynamics applied to weather maps, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives, documents the history of the atmospheric sciences, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atmospheric_science&oldid=1012801348, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 18 March 2021, at 11:50. [2], Early pioneers in the field include Léon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Assmann.[3]. [5] The composition of the Earth's atmosphere is different from the other planets because the various life processes that have transpired on the planet have introduced free molecular oxygen. In contrast to meteorology, which studies short term weather systems lasting up to a few weeks, climatology studies the frequency and trends of those systems. Climatology is the study of atmospheric changes (both long and short-term) that define average climates and their change over time, due to both natural and anthropogenic climate variability. phere (ăt′mə-sfîr′) n. 1. Why isn’t there much hydrogen found in the atmosphere? Convection, circulation, and deflection of air, https://www.britannica.com/science/atmosphere, atmosphere - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), atmosphere - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), feathery cirrus clouds over Pinawa Dam Provincial Park, Discover how much nitrogen, oxygen, water vapour, carbon dioxide, and other elements constitute Earth's air. 3. Abbr. How to use atmosphere in a sentence. 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