Lab #9 :Atmosphere (Week#5)

Monday- Lab#9 Vertical profile of the atmosphere....
http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/layers.html

Layers of the Earth's Atmosphere

The atmosphere is divided into five layers. It is thickest near the surface and thins out with height until it eventually merges with space.
1) The troposphere is the first layer above the surface and contains half of the Earth's atmosphere. Weather occurs in this layer.
2) Many jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the Sun.
3) Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.
4) The thermosphere is a layer with auroras. It is also where the space shuttle orbits.
5) The atmosphere merges into space in the extremely thin exosphere. This is the upper limit of our atmosphere.

Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere Lab

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS

Failure is not an option! Read, Understand and Apply!

• You should cut and glue each section as you complete them. Remember, there may be some writing between diagrams and graphs!
• Always answer the questions with complete sentences and complete thoughts.
• Where applicable, use numerical values to support your answer.  
• Write legibly and always keep the lab room neat and clean.

PROCEDURE: For ALL data tables and diagrams use PENCIL only!

1. Complete the title information. Read and understand the introduction. Cut and glue the title and introduction into your lab book.
2. Using Data Table 1 and Figure 1, plot the first data set (station 1). First, find the temperature value of station 1 on the horizontal axis. Second, find the altitude (vertical height above the mean sea level) on the vertical axis. Put a dot where they both intersect.
3. Using information from procedure 1, plot each set of data by finding the temperature first, and then altitude. When you plot first two sets of data, connect them by drawing a line. Continue plotting each data set and connecting them with a line graph. ALWAYS connect the new dot with the previous data point before you proceed to plot the next one.
4. Using the information below, draw thick horizontal lines to distinguish and label each layer of the atmosphere by its range of altitude and name. Use large capital letters. If you wish to, you can color each layer in sequence; red, light red, orange, light orange, yellow, light yellow, green, light green, blue

           

            LAYER       ALTITUDE RANGE                     LAYER           ALTITUDE RANGE                        1. Troposphere            0-12 km                                 2.Tropopause               12-25 km

           3. Stratosphere 25-50 km (Ozone layer, Ozonospher 4. Stratopause             50-55 km

           5. Mesosphere:            55-82 km                               6. Mesopause              82-92 km

           7. Thermosphere          92 km and up

5. How is the temperature changing in troposphere from 0 to 12 kilometers? Use numerical values to support your answer.
6. How is the temperature changing in tropopause from 12 to 25 kilometers? Use numerical values to support your answer.
7. How is the temperature changing in stratosphere from 25 to 50 kilometers? Use numerical values to support your answer.
8. Using the terms troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere, explain what happens to the air temperature in the atmosphere, within each atmospheric layer, starting from the mean sea level to 100 km altitude.
9. The data table 2 shows the concentration of ozone, in ozone units, in Earth’s atmosphere at different altitudes. One ozone unit is equal to 10¹² molecules per cm³. On the grid provided, construct a line graph of ozone concentration in the atmosphere recorded at different altitudes shown on the data table 2 by plotting each set of data from the table with an “X“ and connecting the points with a line.
10. Use your ESRT “Selected Properties of Earth’s Atmosphere” chart. Based on the graph and data of the procedure 9, state the name of the temperature zone of the atmosphere in which the concentration of ozone is greatest. Use complete sentence and complete thoughts. Use numerical values to support your answer.

CLEAN THE LAB TABLE AND LEAVE IT NEAT. ORGANIZE ALL MATERIALS.

Conclusion/Evaluation Questions: Answer in complete sentences and complete thoughts. Where applicable, use numerical values to support your answers.

1.      Based on this activity, on what basis do you think the atmosphere divided into several layers? Support your answer.

2.      How does the presence of ozone seem to affect the temperature of the atmosphere in stratosphere? Explain.

3.      State how incoming solar radiation (insolation) is affected by the presence of ozone in the atmosphere.

4.      How would the lack of ozone in stratosphere affect air temperature in troposphere? Support your answer.

5.      Which level of the atmosphere affects the most of the weather system? (Hint: clouds).

6.      Based on your answer to the question 5, which layer should have the most of the water vapor concentration in the atmosphere? Explain your answer.

lab sheets

Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere Lab

Last: ______________________ First: ________________ Period: ____ Group: _____ Date:      /       /

Group Members: ________________________, ________________________, ________________________

Failure is not an option! Read, Understand, Apply!

Investigative Question: On what basis is the atmosphere divided into several layers?

Materials:  Student instructions, Pencils, colored pencils (optional), ESRT

1. Introduction: Scientists are not the most intelligent people on earth. They know how to formulate questions, use available tools/instruments to collect data and process it. The most common questions formulated by the scientists are: What did happen and why? What is happening and why? What will happen and why?

Meteorologists are atmospheric scientists who measure and study the state of the atmosphere by using many kinds of instruments such as: a balloon-carried instrument called a rawinsonde, radar wind profiler, Doppler radar, satellites, jet aircraft, space-craft launching, sailing ships, weather stations, computers and etc. All data gathered by different sources is collected at the National Weather Center to be processed immediately. Commercial or non-commercial institutions and individuals may access this data for their own use.

In this activity, we will assume that you were an atmospheric scientist working for the National Weather Center. You are given the following data in the Table 1 and asked to interpret it. Data Table 1 represents the average (mean) vertical temperature (^oC) of the atmosphere up to 120 km altitude.

2.                                                      TABLE 1: Average (Mean) Vertical Temperature (^oC) of the Atmosphere

STATION	ALTITUDE (km)	Temperature (oC)
1	0 (sea level)	15.6
2	2	+10
3	5	0
4	10	-20
5	12	-60
6	25	-60
7	40	-55
8	50	-13
9	56	-13
10	66	-25
11	70	-50
12	82	-90
13	92	-90
14	105	-76
15	120	-40

9. The table 2 below shows the concentration of ozone, in ozone units, in Earth’s atmosphere at different altitudes. One ozone unit is equal to 10¹² molecules per cm³.

                  Data Table 2