Detailed Analysis of Atmospheric Layers in Aviation Management

This report delves into the five layers of the Earth's atmosphere, focusing on their relevance to aviation. It begins with the exosphere, the outermost layer, and then progresses through the thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere, detailing the characteristics of each layer, including temperature variations, composition, and the presence of phenomena like auroras and clouds. The report highlights the importance of these layers for aviation, mentioning the altitudes at which different atmospheric layers exist, and how they impact aircraft operations. It also references key scientific studies that have contributed to the understanding of atmospheric layers, making this report a comprehensive guide for students of aviation management. This assignment is designed to give students an understanding of the atmosphere and how it relates to aviation.

Aviation Management
Student’s Name
Student’s ID:

1
Table of Contents
Atmospheric Layers.....................................................................................................................................2
References...................................................................................................................................................3

2
Atmospheric Layers
There are five layers of the Earth's atmosphere, and they are as follows:
Exosphere
It is the highest layer of the atmosphere and is situated above the thermosphere from nearly 700
km sea level with almost 10,000 km altitude. It consists of low masses of helium, hydrogen and
some heavy molecular particles which consist of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and nitrogen. The
atomic and molecular particles are so far from each other that they could move thousands of
kilometers with striking with each other. The exosphere is situated very far from the Earth for
any weather phenomena. But, sometimes aurora australis and the aurora borealis take place in the
lower portion of the Exosphere and join with the Thermosphere (Hirschmann, 2018). The
Exosphere comprises many satellites moving around the Earth.
Thermosphere
It is the second layer of the atmosphere, and its extension is from mesopause with almost 80 km
altitude to the thermopause with 500-1000 km altitude. The increase in height leads to a rise in
the temperature of the thermosphere. The temperature could increase up to 1500 C or 2700 F,
but the gaseous molecules are very far from each other. It is a cloudless layer and has no water
vapor. But, some non-climatic phenomena like the aurora australis and aurora borealis are
sometimes observed in this layer. The International Space Station between 350 and 420 km
moves in thermosphere (Drob et al., 2015).
Mesosphere
It is the third layer of the atmosphere and situated between the thermosphere and stratosphere. Its
extension is from stratosphere with almost 50 km altitude to mesopause with 80-85 km altitude
from the sea level. The increase in mesopause altitude decreases the temperature and is the
coldest layer of the Earth’s atmosphere with the -85 C temperature (Plane, Feng & Dawkins,
2015). There exists cold air beneath the mesopause and has little water vapor, which might turn
into noctilucent clouds of the polar-mesosphere layer. These are the highest clouds in the
atmosphere. This layer is very high for the jet airplanes and balloons and very low for the
spacecraft.

3

4
Stratosphere
It is the fourth layer of the atmosphere and is located at the top of the troposphere and separated
by the tropopause. Its extension is from above the troposphere with 12 km altitude from the
surface of the Earth to stratopause with 50-55 km altitude (Alexandrov et al., 2014). It consists of
the ozone layer, which is also included in the atmosphere of the Earth and comprises of high
densities of gases. The temperature increases due to ultraviolet rays from the Sun. The
temperature in this layer makes steady atmospheric situations. Nacreous clouds are sometimes
observed in this layer and its layer is suitable for jet airplanes.
Troposphere
It is considered as the lowest layer of the atmosphere of the earth. It is the place where all
weather conditions occur. It has been found that approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass, as
well as the 99% of the entire mass of the concern water vapor along with aerosols, are contained
in the troposphere (Alexandrov et al., 2014). Its height is found to be 18km within the tropics,
17km within the middle latitudes as well as 6km within the Polar Regions during the winter
season.

5
References
Alexandrov, A., Bergmann, R., Ewen, S., Freytag, J. C., Hueske, F., Heise, A., ... & Naumann, F.
(2014). The stratosphere platform for big data analytics. The VLDB Journal—The
International Journal on Very Large Data Bases, 23(6), 939-964.
Drob, D. P., Emmert, J. T., Meriwether, J. W., Makela, J. J., Doornbos, E., Conde, M., ... &
Huba, J. D. (2015). An update to the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM): The quiet time
thermosphere. Earth and Space Science, 2(7), 301-319.
Hirschmann, M. M. (2018). Comparative deep Earth volatile cycles: The case for C recycling
from exosphere/mantle fractionation of major (H2O, C, N) volatiles and H2O/Ce,
CO2/Ba, and CO2/Nb exosphere ratios. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 502, 262-
273.
Plane, J. M., Feng, W., & Dawkins, E. C. (2015). The mesosphere and metals: Chemistry and
changes. Chemical reviews, 115(10), 4497-4541.