#What Is An Increase In Temperature With Height In An Atmospheric Layer Called Top Useful Tips

[whumpster-fire]

What if The Abyss Was Real?

I haven’t done a dumb “Applying real-world physics to fantasy settings thought experiment shitpost” in a while, I feel like doing one for Made In Abyss.

Okay so long story short, The Abyss, from the manga/anime Made In Abyss, is a really big hole in the ground. Specifically, it’s a circular chasm with an unknown depth estimated to be at least 20,000 meters, but there’s a magical curse that causes any human being attempting to ascend to get sick, with symptoms getting worse the lower you’re trying to ascend from, and if you go too deep you’ll die if you try to return.

Gee... sounds a little bit like Decompression Sickness, doesn’t it? So now I’m curious: would the increased atmospheric pressure in The Abyss be dangerous even if there was no magical curse?

To get this out of the way: a 20-kilometer deep hole can’t exist on Earth in real life - not because lava would come out, because continental crust is usually thicker than that (although the Abyss is on an island in the middle of the ocean so it might be getting into the mantle), but because rocks aren’t strong enough and the immense weight combined with the effects of erosion would cause it to collapse and fill itself in after a while. If there was a hole that deep, the bottom would probably be unsurvivably hot because of a combination of geothermal heat and Adiabatic Lapse (i.e. for the same reason high altitudes are really cold, a really low negative altitude would be extremely hot because any descending air mass will be compressed by the increasing pressure and when you compress air it gets hotter).

But assuming fantasy physics do keep the rocks stable and the temperature normal-ish, would the atmospheric pressure make the Abyss deadly to return from / descend into?

Let’s find out!

High pressure is a hazard divers in the ocean have to contend with, and much like in the Abyss, descending is relatively safe but ascending is the tricky part. It’s very hard to actually crush someone with pressure because the pressure inside and outside your body tends to equalize since we’re mostly made up of non-rigid liquid... gel... stuff. If you rapidly take that pressure away though, you get nasty effects like the solubility of gases in blood decreasing, causing gas to come out of solution and form bubbles which fuck your everything up. This is generally not a worry when going to high altitude because normal atmospheric pressure is only equivalent to about 10 meters of water, but if you go from a highly pressurized atmosphere to normal pressure too fast you can be in danger. In fact, decompression sickness was originally identified in bridge construction workers working in pressurized work chambers called caissons.

So could the Abyss cause that?

Well... the pressure gradient in a column of air is a bit different from in a column of water. In any fluid the rate of pressure change with depth is equal to the weight density of the fluid. In water, this means the rate of change is linear, approximately 1 atmosphere per 10 meters of depth, because liquids are incompressible and their density doesn’t change much with pressure. In air it’s a different story. The pressure change is much slower because gases are less dense than liquids, but it’s nonlinear, because air is compressible - the deeper you go the higher the pressure gets, and the higher the pressure gets the denser the air becomes, and the higher air density means the pressure increases faster. In fact, the pressure grows or decays exponentially with changing altitude!

This can be modeled with a “constant” called the Scale Height - the height it takes for the pressure to change by a factor of e. Scarequotes around “constant” because it isn’t: air density is a function of temperature as well as pressure, and like I said temperature isn’t constant with altitude. It also varies with molecular weight, and therefore with air composition, and therefore with humidity - humid air is lighter than dry air.

Luckily the Abyss has a constant-ish temperature (ish. The 4th layer’s really hot, the 5th is cold, but it’s not like it’s going from antarctic winter to boiling). What about humidity? Well... the thing is, the vapor pressure of water, and therefore the maximum possible partial pressure of water vapor in air at 100% humidity, is a function of temperature, but as the pressure increases that partial pressure becomes a smaller and smaller percentage of the total pressure. Even at the surface, the air won’t be more than 5% water vapor unless it gets above 30 *C, and only about 2% at 20 *C. So the effect of humidity should be pretty small.

So let’s assume we can approximate the air in the Abyss as dry air at... 27 *C because that’s 300 Kelvins and makes my math easier. That’s pretty warm, but the 4th Layer, Giant’s Goblets, is hot, humid, and really big vertically so it probably skews the average upward a bit. This gives us a scale height of about 8800 meters.

So what are the conditions like?

1st Layer: Edge of the Abyss. Depth: 0 meters. Pressure: 100% sea level.

I think the boundary between the city of Orth and the Abyss proper is around sea level? This is just normal air, with no health hazard to humans.

2nd Layer - Forest Of Temptation: Depth: 1350 meters. Pressure: 115% sea level.

So far so good. The air at the bottom of the first layer is a little thicker and contains a little more oxygen, so you might actual feel better going down there. Someone returning to the surface after an extended period of acclimation to the air down there might get mild altitude sickness.

 2nd Layer - The Inverted Forest: Depth: 2600 meters. Pressure: 135% sea level.

The pressure is know about the same as you’d experience at the bottom of a typical public swimming pool. Be careful to equalize your ears! The pressure difference between here and the surface is the same as between the surface and around 3500 meters above sea level, which is pretty darn high! The inverted forest itself and Ozen’s observation camp is probably a bit higher up than this so the pressure’s a bit lower, if somebody rapidly went all the way up to the surface after living down there for months they might get significant altitude sickness?

3rd Layer - The Great Fault: Depth: 2600-7000 meters. Pressure: 135-220% sea level.

This is a pretty tall layer, and by the time you reach the bottom the air is more than twice as thick as at the surface! This also means the updrafts hit extra hard because all aerodynamic forces - lift and drag - are amplified with the greater air density. A falling object’s terminal velocity is around 70% what it is at sea level. If somebody decided to skydive directly to the Giant’s Goblet, they’d still need a parachute but they could use a parachute of about half the area and still make a safe landing - if they weren’t eaten by the giant flying monsters or crashed into the cliff face by the winds.

4th Layer - The Goblet of Giants: Depth: 7000+ meters. Pressure: 220%+ sea level.

The top of the Goblet of Giants is humid and swelteringly hot. While the humid air doesn’t actually contain more water vapor than humid air of the same temperature at sea level, there’s still more air to absorb and conduct heat. The human body might have trouble cooling itself under these conditions, and delvers could succumb to heatstroke very easily. I’m not sure if the body would just adapt to this much oxygen and get rid of red blood cells en masse, so altitude sickness might not get that much worse.

Cooking under these conditions would be strange, because the ambient pressure is now higher than the pressure inside a pressure cooker. Riko would probably have to use specialized recipes to account for water boiling at over 120 *C and the environment basically being a pressure cooker even if you’re just trying to grill something.

4th Layer - Garden of the Flowers of Resilience: Depth: 9,000 meters. Pressure: 278% sea level. The air’s still getting thicker and thicker. The pressure is equivalent to being 18 meters underwater. Decompression sickness might now be a risk if you rapidly ascended to the surface via a gondola. Without a gondola, there’s no way anyone could climb that rapidly. You will not bleed out of every orifice.

5th Layer - Sea of Corpses: Depth: 12,000 meters. Pressure: 390% sea level.

Time to enter the dark, icy depths! The pressure down here is high. A typical car tire is a little over 2 bars above ambient or 3 bars absolute, so if you brought an inflated car tire down here it would be deflated by the pressure. A soda can would also have gone flat long before this depth. The air is now cold, but probably still humid from the sea and water platform thingies all around. This is a dangerous environment because the thick air cools things like human bodies very effectively, creating an elevated risk of hypothermia and frostbite! The Sea of Corpses is a pretty apt name: swimming or diving in this water could turn deadly very fast.

5th Layer - Ido Front: Depth: 13,000 meters. Pressure: 435% sea level.

This is the point of no return! Ido Front’s near the bottom of the 5th layer but apparently the real boundary is below “sea level” a bit. The curse of the 5th layer is loss of senses and hallucinations... which is actually kind of accurate except for the part where you have to ascend to be affected. The pressure down here is close to the limit for recreational scuba diving because breathing air at such high pressures can lead to Nitrogen Narcosis, and delvers would suffer from slowed reactions and reduced mental acuity. However, it’s not severe enough to cause real hallucinations at this depth, at least at the exposure durations for divers.

6th Layer - Capital of the Unreturned: Depth: 13,000 meters. Pressure: 435% sea level. You... can still return from this depth. Divers do it all the time. They have to take decompression stops around every 10 meters - or 1 atmosphere. To create a 1 atmosphere pressure change Bondrewd’s Happy Fun Time Elevator would have to drop its victims to nearly 15,000 meters, near the bottom of this layer and rocket them back up to Ido Front in a few minutes. Even then this is the safe practice because people were sometimes getting sick and occasionally dying. So uhh... myth busted I guess?

7th Layer - The Final Maelstrom: Depth: 15,500 meters. Pressure: 580% sea level.

By this depth, the partial pressure of oxygen should be reaching 1.2 bars assuming the air is mixed with surface air somehow. Oxygen toxicity is now a major concern: the safety limit for exposure duration at this partial pressure of oxygen is about 3-1/2 hours, much shorter than how long a delver would be down there. The true Curse of the Abyss is now setting in, as the amount of oxygen in the air damages the central nervous system, causing seizures. At greater depths than this the high atmospheric pressure would quickly incapacitate and kill a delver. Sufficient breathing gas to descend this far probably couldn’t be carried in large enough quantities to survive navigating whatever the hell is down there.

Interestingly the depth of the 7th Layer actually more or less corresponds to the real-life limits of human physiology, and if there was a chasm this deep in the real world, we would be just as unable to explore the deepest depths without the benefit of modern technology.

[the-happy-gardeners]

Safely Mowing An Overgrown Lawn

There are lots of reasons that grass are left to end up being disordered, the home might have been left vacant for an extended period of time, the residential or commercial property may be leased as well as the yards not appreciated by either the owner or the renter, an active way of life might simply press our lawn care routines so low to the base of our list of top priorities that we recognize one day we have a genuine trouble with an undesirable thick yard that currently needs to be dealt with. Regardless of the reason that our turf might have become thick, it's currently time to handle the problem as well as to bring our yards back into full health and wellness and control again. However, mowing a thick lawn can bring risk of damage to the lawn if we're not mindful in just how we set about cutting down the excess development, as mowing a thick lawn can actually cause severely harming the lawn or maybe also eliminating the lawn if the mowing is refrained from doing correctly. Why Mowing A Disordered Lawn Can Cause Damage All development of grass comes from a component of the turf called a crown. It is from these crowns which spring forth new runners in warm period yards, along with brand-new lawn fallen leave product in all yards. If these crowns are harmed or removed during lawn mowing then it comes to be difficult for new lawn development to happen in all, which subsequently can eliminate the yard in any kind of afflicted turf locations where this takes place. In trendy period lawns, if we eliminate the crowns the whole afflicted area of lawn will certainly likewise die consequently. Nevertheless for some cozy period turfs such as Zoysia as well as Bermuda lawns, these lawn types also have below ground runners which can repair a lawn where the above surface area lawn has actually been eliminated or had its crowns removed with lawn mowing. Though it is not an assurance that all cozy period lawns will certainly fix when they are severely harmed. The problem we have with overgrown lawn is that these crowns can increase far greater above the dirt degree whenever the lawn comes to be disordered. After that when we mow the overgrown lawn at our normal lawn mowing elevations, we can in fact be eliminating the currently elevated crowns in the lawn mowing procedure, thus seriously harmful or perhaps eliminating the lawn in the afflicted area where this has taken place. We therefore require to adjust our mowing method whenever we are tackling a thick lawn to bring it back into an organized state. Mowing A Thick Lawn Securely If we are mosting likely to begin to mow our lawns much more regularly from now on, after that the absolute best service for us in taking care of a thick turf is to slowly minimize lawn mowing elevations with time. Not taking way too much fallen leave product off in the first lawn mowing, and then perhaps slowly lowering lawn mowing elevations at every 3rd solution, till gradually we get our grass back to their optimal mowing heights. This method is the most safe of all, and also while it does take some time to bring our yards back to their finest look, it will certainly never ever risk harming the grass. What is taking place in this process is two-fold: to start with we are never removing these crowns while lawn mowing, so the yard does not die off; secondly, as the grass is slowly being decreased with time, the grass will certainly change itself to this new expanding atmosphere by constantly expanding all its brand-new crowns at the lower heights that we have actually presented. Slowly, in time, we have safely reduced the lawn elevation and securely educated the lawn to expand all brand-new crowns lower and also closer to the soil degree where they belong. Mowing An Overgrown Lawn In A Single Lawn Mowing As currently reviewed, this will certainly be more secure to do with a warm period lawn than with an awesome period lawn, so the threat and also outcomes of this continue to be with the lawn owner or whomever is mowing the disordered lawn. If this is a single lawn mowing suggested to promptly tidy up a disordered lawn, after that it would likewise be anticipated that we would not wish to eliminate the lawn while doing so. For that reason the very best method of mowing an overgrown lawn which is not going to be frequently trimmed after that would certainly be to mow the lawn at the highest possible elevation possible which is acceptable to the lawn owner. By mowing at this higher height we are doing our absolute best not to be harmful or eliminating way too many grass crowns during the lawn mowing procedure, as a result this will offer us our ideal outcome to keep a lawn which remains alive as well as in the most effective feasible health after this lawn mowing. While the lawn will not consider its best, it is the most safe feasible option for us in this circumstance and to guarantee the recurring survival of the lawn. Last Notes About Mowing Long Grass There are commonly concealed challenges in lengthy overgrown yard, this can be anything from rocks, playthings, glass, devices, or any kind of manner of things. Such objects can become hazardous if struck with lawn mower blades, producing a projectile which risks damage to people or residential or commercial property. Therefore all long turf areas should be very carefully inspected prior to any kind of lawn mowing taking place. Finally, whenever we remove a great deal of turf leaf material with a solitary mowing, we are mosting likely to be cutting right into the brownish thatch layer of the grass, and the longer the lawn ends up being, so as well will certainly the thatch layer boost in elevation also. Consequently we should anticipate a browning off on the yard any place a great deal of environment-friendly fallen leave has been removed at once. As long as the lawn is appropriately sprinkled and cared for after the lawn mowing, this thatch layer need to decrease over a short time period and also brand-new environment-friendly leaf expanded by the lawn The environment-friendly lawn in residence, workplace and also for any kind of location in which you wish to spend your time. The green grass is one of the most desirable attribute of everybody to make residence lovely as well as extra eye-catching every person requires a stunning garden as well as plants however the maintenance of yards or lawns is among one of the most vital variables which we can not deal with in hectic time. I will go over four suggestions which will help everybody to get the preferable garden as well as will certainly help everyone to keep his or her yard for all areas. Reducing The cutting is one of the most essential for lawn because normal cutting is much better for plants growth. For reducing, one must understand about the plant cutting method. For reducing the rule of thumb is always applied. Shorten the stem by around half to two -thirds to round about 5 centimeters. In summers you may intend to see turf much longer. Watering The watering is a 2nd vital part forever yard. People constantly overlook to water. If you desire the rich and also green yard in all summer you must provide water to plants. Watering depends on temperature level and moisture. So your lawn needs water according to the environment. When plants need water their fallen leaves end up being blue rayed as well as little color and also older leaves ended up being blade. Weed Control The weed control is likewise necessary for the great garden. For weed control, you could be little confused. For weed control, you need to utilize manual scarifier. It will certainly get rid of light and little weeds (veronicas or white clover). By utilizing this root of plants will certainly expand more.when weed comes over the turf for that rolled lawn is the very best option. Feeding When we cut the lawn it gets rid of all nutrients from yard. The nutrients ought to be changed for optimal growth of plants. When springs begin you must feed the lawn everyday around 4 weeks. Phosphorus, nitrogen, as well as potassium are three crucial points for your lawn development you can easily get these from the neighborhood Yard Maintenance merchant. Gardening Solutions is not a very easy job yet to make your very own yard appealing as well as fresh. One has to deal with above mentioned four pointers. Your yard requires your time. When you offer even more time to your garden you will certainly utilize your energy in fertilizing. Cutting, watering and a lot more and in few weeks you will certainly obtain results of it. You will certainly see your garden is a lot more appealing and also fresh.

[scifigeneration]

Saturn's famous hexagon may tower above the clouds

The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds. This suggests that the lower-altitude hexagon may influence what happens up above, and that it could be a towering structure spanning hundreds of kilometres in height.

When Cassini arrived at the Saturnian system in 2004, the southern hemisphere was enjoying summertime, while the northern was in the midst of winter. The spacecraft spied a broad, warm, high-altitude vortex at Saturn's southern pole, but none at the planet's northern pole.

A new long-term study has now spotted the first glimpses of a northern polar vortex forming high in the atmosphere as Saturn's northern hemisphere approached summertime. This warm vortex sits hundreds of kilometres above the clouds, in a layer of atmosphere known as the stratosphere, and reveals an unexpected surprise.

"The edges of this newly-found vortex appear to be hexagonal, precisely matching a famous and bizarre hexagonal cloud pattern we see deeper down in Saturn's atmosphere," says Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester, UK, lead author of the new study.

"While we did expect to see a vortex of some kind at Saturn's north pole as it grew warmer, its shape is really surprising. Either a hexagon has spawned spontaneously and identically at two different altitudes, one lower in the clouds and one high in the stratosphere, or the hexagon is in fact a towering structure spanning a vertical range of several hundred kilometres."

Saturn's cloud levels host the majority of the planet's weather, including the pre-existing north polar hexagon. This feature was discovered by NASA's Voyager spacecraft in the 1980s and has been studied for decades; it is a long-lasting wave potentially tied to Saturn's rotation, a type of phenomenon also seen on Earth in structures such as the Polar Jet Stream.

Its properties were revealed in detail by Cassini, which observed it in multiple wavelengths -- from the ultraviolet to the infrared -- using instruments including its Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). However, at the start of the mission this instrument could not peer further up in the northern stratosphere, which had temperatures around -158 degrees Celsius -- some 20 degrees too cold for reliable CIRS infrared observations -- leaving these higher-altitude regions relatively unexplored for many years.

"One Saturnian year spans roughly 30 Earth years, so the winters are long," adds co-author Sandrine Guerlet from Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, France.

"Saturn only began to emerge from the depths of northern winter in 2009, and gradually warmed up as the northern hemisphere approached summertime."

A strange process at play within Saturn's atmosphere sped up this warming: as air sank at the north pole, the upper hexagon warmed increasingly quickly, and the transport of air downwards made the abundance of several minor species more concentrated. The increased temperature allowed Fletcher and colleagues to study the polar vortex in infrared light.

"We were able to use the CIRS instrument to explore the northern stratosphere for the first time, from 2014 onwards," adds Guerlet. "As the polar vortex became more and more visible, we noticed it had hexagonal edges, and realised that we were seeing the pre-existing hexagon at much higher altitudes than previously thought."

This indicates that Saturn's two poles behave very differently -- there was no hexagon at the south pole, either at the cloud tops or above, when it was observed early in Cassini's mission during southern summer. The northern vortex is also nowhere near as mature as the southern vortex, as it is cooler, and displays different dynamics from its southern counterpart.

"This could mean that there's a fundamental asymmetry between Saturn's poles that we're yet to understand, or it could mean that the north polar vortex was still developing in our last observations and kept doing so after Cassini's demise," adds Fletcher. The Cassini mission came to an end in September 2017.

The presence of a hexagon way up in Saturn's northern stratosphere, hundreds of kilometres above the clouds, suggests that there is much more to learn about the dynamics at play in the gas giant's atmosphere.

A single, towering hexagonal structure that stretches up through the atmosphere would be unlikely given that wind conditions change considerably with altitude. However, by investigating the atmospheric properties in the northern region, Fletcher and colleagues also determined that waves like the hexagon should be unable to propagate upwards -- they should remain trapped in the cloud-tops, as previously thought.

"One way that wave 'information' can leak upwards is via a process called evanescence, where the strength of a wave decays with height but is just about strong enough to still persist up into the stratosphere," explains Fletcher. "We simply need to know more. It's quite frustrating that we only discovered this stratospheric hexagon right at the end of Cassini's lifespan."

Understanding how and why Saturn's north polar vortex has assumed a hexagonal shape will shed light on how phenomena deeper down in an atmosphere can influence the environment high up above, something that is of particular interest to scientists trying to figure out how energy is transported around in planetary atmospheres.

Saturn's north polar region is expected to continue developing in coming years; the northern hemisphere passed summer solstice in May 2017, and is on track for its autumn equinox in 2024.

"Saturn's northern hexagon is an iconic feature on one of the most charismatic members of the Solar System, so to discover that it still holds major mysteries is very exciting," says Nicolas Altobelli, ESA Project Scientist for the Cassini-Huygens mission.

"The Cassini spacecraft continued to provide new insights and discoveries right up to the very end. Without a capable spacecraft like Cassini, these mysteries would have remained unexplored. It shows just what can be accomplished by an international team sending a sophisticated robotic explorer to a previously unexplored destination -- with results that keep flowing even when the mission itself has ended."

[jacewilliams1]

How to use a Skew-T Log-P diagram

Whether you’re a high or low altitude pilot, you can see how the temperature and amount of moisture in the air changes as you rise and descend through the atmosphere. How can we better understand these vertical changes to improve weather safety and awareness?

Let’s get acquainted with a meteorological diagram called a Skew-T Log-P. This diagram’s name stems from the fact that lines of equal temperature are skewed at a 45 degree angle along the horizontal axis and pressure in millibars is plotted on a logarithmic scale along the vertical axis. As we will soon see, meteorologists overlay temperatures, dewpoints, and wind barbs on this diagram to make thermodynamic calculations easier. Temperature, dewpoint, and wind information on a Skew-T Log-P diagram can either be observed (as sampled by a weather balloon) or forecast (raw computer forecast model output).

When looking at a sounding, another name for a Skew-T Log-P diagram, we can see several things immediately. We can easily identify levels of the atmosphere that are saturated, or where the temperature and dewpoint are equal to each other and where clouds are likely to be or form. This is particularly helpful for higher altitude pilots, as a sounding shows the depth of saturated and drier layers and thus layers where clouds are more or less likely to be.

Next, we can trace the temperature line with altitude to find where the freezing level is and how saturated air is above this level. This is quite helpful for pilots concerned with icing and the likelihood of encountering supercooled water droplets.

Wind barbs on the Skew-T Log-P diagram not only show you winds aloft but also allow you to easily see wind shear. Higher directional and speed shear suggests convection is more likely to be organized.

Lastly, we can easily see inversions, or where temperature increases with height, on a sounding. Inversions are important for the formation of fog and can inhibit thunderstorm development. While we can learn a lot about the atmosphere in this snapshot, a deeper analysis can help us predict future weather changes.

Before beginning our analysis, we need to understand a key meteorology term: adiabatic. Adiabatic temperature changes involve the expansion or compression of air without the addition or subtraction of heat. A closed parcel of air will expand if it rises, and the temperature of the air inside that parcel will fall.

Alternatively, a closed bubble of air will compress if it sinks, and the temperature of the air inside that bubble will rise. This rate of cooling or warming is a function of how saturated that bubble of air is. Unsaturated air warms at the dry adibatic lapse rate (which is about 3°C per 1,000 feet) if sinking and cools at the same rate if rising. Saturated air warms at the moist adiabtic lapse rate (which is 1.2 to 1.8°C per 1,000 feet depending on altitude) if sinking and cools at the same rate when rising. The saturation mixing ratio is the ratio that a parcel must have at a given pressure and temperature to be considered saturated. Moist adiabats, dry adiabats, and mixing ratios can be found on Skew-T Log-P diagrams and are important in our analysis of how air moves vertically in the atmosphere.

Suppose you have a flight scheduled two days from now during the summer. You’re seeing forecasts for clouds developing during the afternoon, but at what altitude or pressure level will cloud bases be? A TAF will not help you as are looking 48 hours not 12 or 24 hours out. Thankfully, a forecast Skew-T Log-P diagram can help you determine the approximate cloud base or, as meteorologists call it, the lifted condensation level or LCL.

To determine the LCL based on air at the surface, we’ll take the dewpoint at the ground up the mixing ratio line and the temperature up the dry adiabat simultaneously until they intersect. This is not only the approximate point where the lowest clouds will be found, it is also the location where the parcel stops rising at the dry adiabatic lapse rate and switches to the moist adiabatic lapse rate. This slower rate of cooling often allows the parcel to remain warmer than the air around it and thus continue to rise. In severe weather environments, that parcel is likely to keep rising until it hits the top of the troposphere and bottom of the stratosphere where the temperature of the parcel finally reaches the temperature of the air around it. The equilibrium level indicates the maximum cloud top height.

Our Skew-T Log-P analysis doesn’t have to center on lifting air from the ground. Air a couple thousand feet above the ground can be thermodynamically lifted to create elevated thunderstorms.

Computers often calculate parameters like the LCL or equilibrium level – and severe weather indices, such as the lifted index, Total Totals, or SWEAT index – automatically based on observed or forecast sounding data. This enables a meteorologist to quickly compare parameters and indices among computer models and observations to make forecasts. Also, remember that soundings show part of the weather story, and fronts or lifting mechanisms must be analyzed when creating a forecast.

The analysis above reveals the reasons behind why warm, humid air at the ground and cold air aloft often supports thunderstorms. We have also seen how a meteorologist can forecast cloud bases and determine if parcels will be free to rise vertically. You now have a new appreciation and tool for investigating the atmosphere and its impacts on your flight.

***

To read more of Scott’s Weather Geek articles, subscribe to Sporty’s Takeoff app, where he regularly posts exclusive tips for pilots.

The post How to use a Skew-T Log-P diagram appeared first on Air Facts Journal.

from Engineering Blog https://airfactsjournal.com/2018/08/how-to-use-a-skew-t-log-p-diagram/

[groovytastemakerunknown]

Tube Settlers vs. Plate Settlers: Comparing Lamella Technologies

The sedimentation process in both water and wastewater treatment is a physical process which relies on gravity to settle and remove suspended solids. Advanced solids settling processes typically utilize lamella, commonly referred to as tube settlers or plate settlers, to reduce the vertical distance solids particles must fall until hitting a “settling surface”. Higher flow rates, better effluent quality, and more compact sedimentation basins can all be achieved with both types of lamella sedimentation equipment. Although both operate on the same principles of solids settling and can be used as basis of design in many cases, there are several notable differences between the two technologies.

Characteristics of Tube Settlers and Plate Settlers

Tube settlers utilize multiple adjacent tubular channels that are sloped at a nominal 60° angle and combine to form an increased effective settling area. The size and shape of the tubular channels vary by manufacturer. Brentwood’s tube settler design features a trapezoidal shape created by thermoforming PVC sheets. You can learn more about our design process by reading our Thermoformed vs. Extruded Tube Settlers blog.

In contrast, plate settlers use a series of inclined plates, typically constructed of steel, which are spaced two to three inches apart from each other on a 55° to 60° angle to form an increased effective settling area. As a result of these design differences, typical design parameters for these two types differ.

Comparing Design Parameters

It is important to note that there is a difference in application rate (flow rate/coverage area, expressed in gpm/ft2) between tube settlers and plate settlers as a result of different effective settling area terms used, despite settling principles being similar for the two technologies. To provide a more direct comparison, the application rates of tube settlers can be converted to an equivalent “plate” application rate by taking into account the projected surface area of tubes:

As illustrated in the above table, the equivalent maximum “plate” application rates of Brentwood tube settlers are in the same range as a generic plate settler, which has an average application rate of 0.30. IFR6041 tube settlers are the most comparable to plate settlers in regard to coverage area because settler length is similar. However, Brentwood’s other tube settler modules are capable of treating required flow just as effectively with appropriate coverage area. Tube settlers also eliminate cross-flow and eddy currents, which makes flow hydraulics more stable and efficient.

In addition to varying design approaches, there are other advantages and disadvantages to consider when comparing tube settlers or plate settlers for your application:

Tube Settlers

Advantages:

Lightweight PVC results in easy installation and does not require heavy lifting equipment

Lower capital cost due to materials of construction

Applicable in shallow tanks with underflow velocity concerns

Twenty to twenty-five year service life, provided proper maintenance is performed

Only PVC tube settlers are replaced at the end of their useful life typically supporting structures and effluent troughs can remain

Tube settlers are strong enough to walk on top of for proper maintenance

Highly customizable to accommodate varying basin configurations

Disadvantages:

Maximum module vertical height is 41 inches, resulting in a maximum application rate of 3.5 gpm/ft2

PVC must be protected from extensive UV exposure. Brentwood tube settlers do contain UV inhibitors. AccuGrid protective surface grating is also available for additional UV protection.

Plate Settlers

Advantages:

Less limitation on depth

Longer lifespan due to material of construction

Disadvantages:

Two to three times higher capital cost

Higher installation cost due to required heavy lifting equipment

Deeper basin requirements to accommodate underflow velocities

Risk of corrosion in certain environments (certain industrial wastewater applications)

Polyhedral Hollow Ball packing is made from heat resistant and chemical corrosion resistant plastics, and the application temperature in media ranges from 60 to 150 degrees.

Plastic Polyhedral Hollow Ball (PP, PE, PVC, CPVC, RPP ) is also called plastic multi-aspect hollow ball, polyhedral hollow ball packing composed of two hemispheres which will form into a ball. And each hemisphere consists of a number of half fan-shaped leaves, the upper and lower leaves in a staggered arrangement. The design concept is advanced and the structure is reasonable. Plastic Polyhedral hollow balls have the virtue of light weight, wide free space, small wind resistance, and good surface hydrophilic, big full wet surface area and convenient filling in the equipment and sound usage effect.

Plastic polyhedral Hollow Ball can be used in sewage treatment, desulfurization of CO2 in power plant, desulfuration and purified water tower packing. Plastic multi-aspect hollow ball is a new type of high-efficiency tower packing applied in water treatment equipment.

Pall rings: made in various materials, used in massive applications

Pall rings are the most frequently used form of random packaging. They are made of metal and plastic. They also have different applications. Our experts will give you the most beneficial info about pall rings through this blog at Linquip. To find more, read on.

What are Pall Rings?

As said above, pall Rings are a random ring-type packaging with a well-established success background and a globally distributed base. They try to increase the use of packaging by disrupting the flow by providing an increased number of edges while reducing the volume of the ring packing medium itself. Pall rings have identical cylindrical dimensions but have window rows that improve the surface area size. They are ideal for low-pressure drops and applications with high power. They have randomness and relatively high liquid retention that promotes high absorption, especially if the reaction rate is slow. Pall rings’ cross structure makes them mechanically robust and ideal for deeply packed beds.

What are Pall Rings Used for?

Pall ring is applied in a variety of areas, including:

Different Separation and Absorption

Absorption and Stripping Services

Steam Stripping

Quench Towers

Direct Contact Cooling

Reaction Towers

Distillation Columns

Tower Packing

Plastic pall rings

Random packaging has been used for over 50 years to boost the efficiency of a tower.

In comparison with high-performance packing, plastic pall rings are less sensitive to liquid distribution quality and have a higher hold-up and residence time. Although plastic pall rings do not have “high performance” characteristics, they are well known for their performance.

Plastic pall rings, as one type of pall rings, can be made of different shapes for different applications. In gas and liquid separators applications, for example, they are increasingly popular. They have excellent chemical resistance, the stability of the temperature, and mechanical strength. They are made of polypropylene pall ring, Polyethylene pall ring, RPP pall ring, PVDF pall ring, PVC pall ring, and CPVC pall ring.

The composition of plastic pall rings varies from the ceramic pall ring and metallic pall ring. Two levels of windows on the cylinders wall and ligules bend inside the ring axes on the cylinders’ wall for the metal and ceramic ring. The plastic cylinder wall is fitted with two layers of windows and the fingers or webs bow inward and form different forms. The handling efficiency of the pall ring is 50 percent greater than the ring with the same decompression condition. The mass pressure is meanwhile at the same treatment half below the Raschig ring. Moreover, the efficiency of transfer will increase by 20%.

Metal Pall Rings

Metal pall rings are a significant type of pall rings. Metal pall rings can be customized into different sizes. In very hostle environments, they are more resistant to corrosion and rust compared with plastic pall rings. Metal pall rings are made primarily from carbon steel, galvanized steel, and other materials. There are two layers of windows on the cylinder wall close to the ceramic pall ring. And there are five ligules in each sheet, which bend inwards into the ring axis.

Metal pall rings are used in quench towers, direct contact cooling applications, atmospheric pressure separation, and absorption applications, places in which vacuum is critical to the low-pressure drop, and applications of steam stripping.

Overview About Mist Eliminators

Mist eliminators, also known as demisters, are devices that remove liquid droplets or vapor from the work atmosphere. This device has found some applications in many industries where such vapors are released as a by-product of the different chemical processes. Manufacturers produce standard or specialized devices to work as an important part of various industrial operations which include absorption towers, distillation towers, separation tanks, gas separators, evaporators, and so on. Various industries like metallurgy, petroleum, medicine manufacturing use demisters in their production processes or environmental protection measures.

Working Principle of a Mist Eliminator

Standard demisting devices work on the principles of inertia and dispersion. The liquid vapor rises with the gas and passes through the eliminator pads. These pads are fitted with wire meshes with openings that correspond to the predetermined average vapor droplet size, which is generally in the range of 3 to 5 micrometers. Due to the increasing inertia of these droplets, they get attached to the wire meshes. With subsequent passes, these collected droplets get heavier and heavier due to the tensile and adhesive properties of liquids, ultimately falling off the pads. In this manner, the vapor liquid is essentially separated from the gaseous emissions passing through standard eliminator pads.

Advantages

Eliminator manufacturers of today produce demisters of various sizes and capillary openings based on the above principle. A standard mist eliminator has various advantages as listed below.

· It is an essentially simple device; its size is only dependent on the gaseous emission pathway dimensions

· For such a basic device, it is highly efficient in removing liquid vapors with minimum disturbance to the actual process

· Eliminators improve the output by removing vaporized impurities; they also make gaseous emissions, safer by helping to separate potentially harmful compounds

· With no external power needed for its operation, it is a cost-saving device

· The liquid deposits may be collected and re-processed

Types

According to the requirements of specific industries, there are various types of these devices produced and operating in several industrial applications. However, we may segregate mist eliminator devices into three basic categories as discussed below.

Standard Mist Eliminator

These are the basic demisters that may be used in normal work environments. These devices can work efficiently in standard gaseous emissions, separating liquefied vapors. The mesh sizes of these devices are bigger, and they can sustain low to moderate amounts of gas pressure.

[loxwoodclaypits]

Process of Brick Manufacturing for Masonry construction- Loxwood Clay Pits

What is exactly a brick?

Brick is a replica of a block that is used for building walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. The term brick precisely means a block made of dry clay. Bricks come in a wide variety of types, materials and sizes, depending on the region and time period, and are mass-produced.

To be specific “Bricks are eco-friendly and sustainable building material that is generally available  in rectangular shape blocks”

There are generally two types of bricks-

Fired bricks also known as artificial stones are one of the most persistent and strongest building materials that have been used since about 4000 BC. 

Another type of bricks is air-dried bricks which are also called mudbricks have a longer history than fired bricks and contain additional components of mechanical binders such as straw. 

Bricks are collectively placed in courses and different patterns called bonds and this course is collectively known as brickwork and can be placed in different types of mortar to hold the bricks together so as to create a durable structure. Brick fabricate a long-standing popular construction material that retains heat, resists corrosion, and is fire resistant. Because each unit is small, it is typically four inches wide and twice as long, making bricks an ideal material for structures with limited space and curved designs. In addition, brick buildings generally last longer with minimal maintenance.

An Ideal Site For Manufacturing Bricks-

 For the manufacturing of bricks, the site should be selected based on some important considerations such as:

The ground of the site should be a flat surface.

The site must be connected to a connecting road for easy transportation of materials, etc.

Good quality brick soil should be available.

The site must provide workers with all the facilities.

 One great example of such a site is Loxwood Clay Pits land. Historically, this has been the site of small-scale brick-making activities for many years through the 1800s and early 1900s. The presence of a larger operation at Rudgwick significantly indicates the suitability of the clay resource for brick making 

The manufacturing process of bricks-

The building block of the brick manufacturing process from clay includes four principle steps clay preparation, molding, and brick drying and burning.  

Preparation of clay- 

Preparation of clay for brick making is done in 6 steps:

Clay Removal or Unsoiling- Pure clay is required to make bricks. Since the top soil may contain impurities, simply discard the clay with a depth of about 200 mm in the topsoil.

 Digging- After removing the top layer, dig the clay out of the ground and spread it on a flat surface.

 Cleaning- At this stage, stones, plant substances, etc. are removed from the clay. In the presence of large amounts of particulate matter, the clay is washed and screened. The clay mass is pulverized with a soil crushing roller.

 Weathering- The washed clay is exposed to the air to soften it. The period of weathering is 3-4 weeks or a complete rainy season. For large projects, clay is generally dugout right before the rainy season.

 Binding- If you want to add some material to the blended clay, loosen the clay at this stage and spread the material. Then pick up a small amount of clay and adjust it vertically. This process is called a clay blend.

 Tempering- At this stage, water is added to the clay and squeezed. Pressing is done by cattle or sometimes by human feet for smaller projects, and pugmills are used as grinders in large projects. As a result, clay has acquired plasticity and is now suitable for molding.

 2. Molding- During the molding process, clay is molded into a brick shape, which is generally rectangular. In old times the molds that were used to mold the bricks were made from wood, and manufacturers used sand to prevent the bricks from sticking to the mold. But in today’s time, there are many other options available for this process. Bricks are molded in different ways, depending on the quality and quantity of the final product. The most common methods of molding or molding bricks are hand molding and machine molding. The brick molding method typically depends upon the project scale.

Hand molding for small scale projects- Hand molding again can be done by 2 methods i.e. either by ground molding or table molding

Machine molding for large-scale projects- There are two types of machine used for brick molding i.e. Plastic clay machine and Dry clay machine.

3. Drying of Raw bricks-  Drying is one of the crucial steps in the brick manufacturing process. The reason why the bricks are first dried before taking them for burning is that clay bricks contain moisture which may cause cracks in the brick while burning so as to avoid these cracks it is important to dry the raw bricks. Drying the bricks ensures that unrequired moisture is removed before they are exposed to the burning process. Drying also increases the overall strength of the raw bricks, allowing them to be stacked on height without damaging the kiln. The drying process is usually done by simply placing the bricks in a shade with open sides. This ensures free air circulation and protects against extreme weather conditions. The brick drying process takes 7 to 14 days.

4. Burning or Firing of bricks- In the firing process, dried bricks are burned to a certain temperature with either a clamp small or a kiln large. At this stage, the brick becomes harder and stronger, which is an important process in brick making. The temperature required for burning these raw bricks is about 1100oC. If they burnt beyond this limit they will become brittle and breakable. If they burnt under this limit, they will not gain full strength and there is a chance to absorb moisture from the atmosphere. Hence burning should be done properly to meet the requirements of good brick. All the necessary setup and precisely controlled temperature are necessary for the brick burning. The final product that is formed after the burning process is what we call a brick. And the whole method from clay preparation to firing of bricks is called the brick manufacturing process.

 Loxwood Clay Pits Limited is a well-appreciated Claypit excavation company in Loxwood which is known for its remarkable ministration. Loxwood clay pits are well located for supplying clay to several relatively local brickworks as well as brick-making manufacturers all over Uk and Europe. To know more visit our website...

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Safety Lamp

A safety lamp is any of several types of lamp that provides illumination in coal mines and is designed to operate in air that may contain coal dust or gases, both of which are potentially flammable or explosive. Until the development of effective electric lamps in the early 1900s, miners used flame lamps to provide illumination. Open flame lamps could ignite flammable gases which collected in mines, causing explosions; safety lamps were developed to enclose the flame and prevent it from igniting the surrounding atmosphere. Flame safety lamps have been replaced in mining with sealed explosion-proof electric lights.

Damps or gases

Miners have traditionally referred to the various gases encountered during mining as damps, from the Middle Low German word dampf (meaning "vapour").Damps are variable mixtures and are historic terms.

Firedamp – Naturally occurring flammable mixtures, principally methane.

Blackdamp or Chokedamp – Nitrogen and carbon dioxide with no oxygen. Formed by complete combustion of firedamp or occurring naturally. Coal in contact with air will oxidize slowly and, if unused workings are not ventilated, pockets of blackdamp may develop. Also referred to as azotic air in some 19th-century papers.

Whitedamp – Formed by the incomplete combustion of coal, or firedamp. The mixture may contain significant amounts of carbon monoxide, which is toxic and potentially explosive.

Stinkdamp – Naturally occurring hydrogen sulphide and other gases. The hydrogen sulphide is highly toxic, but easily detected by smell. The other gases with it may be firedamp or blackdamp.

Afterdamp – The gas from an explosion of firedamp or coal dust. Contains varying proportions of blackdamp and whitedamp and is therefore suffocating, toxic, or explosive, or any combination of these. Afterdamp may also contain stinkdamp. Afterdamp may be a bigger killer following an explosion than the explosion itself.

Open flame illumination

Before the invention of safety lamps, miners used candles with open flames. This gave rise to frequent explosions. For example, at one colliery (Killingworth) in the north east of England, 10 miners were killed in 1806 and 12 in 1809. In 1812, 90 men and boys were suffocated or burnt to death in the Felling Pit near Gateshead and 22 in the following year.

Wood 1853 describes the testing of a mine for firedamp. A candle is prepared by being trimmed and excess fat removed. It is held at arm's length at floor level in one hand, the other hand shielding out all except the tip of the flame. As the candle is raised the tip is observed and if unchanged the atmosphere is safe. If however the tip turns bluish-gray increasing in height to a thin extended point becoming a deeper blue, then firedamp is present.Upon detecting firedamp the candle is lowered and arrangements made for the ventilating of the area or the deliberate firing of the firedamp after the end of a shift. A man edged forward with a candle on the end of a stick. He kept his head down to allow the explosion to pass over him, but as soon as the explosion had occurred stood upright as much as possible to avoid the afterdamp. Officially known as a fireman he was also referred to as a penitent or monk from the hooded garb he wore as protection. The protective clothing was made of wool or leather and well dampened. As can be imagined this procedure did not always preserve the life of the man so employed.

When they came into regular use, barometers were used to tell if atmospheric pressure was low which could lead to more firedamp seeping out of the coal seams into the mine galleries. Even after the introduction of safety lamps this was still essential information, see Trimdon Grange for details of an accident where pressure was involved.

The lack of good lighting was a major cause of the eye affliction nystagmus. Miners working in thin seams or when undercutting the coal had to lie on their side in cramped conditions. The pick was swung horizontally to a point beyond the top of their head. In order to see where they were aiming (and accurate blows were needed), the eyes needed to be straining in what would normally be the upwards and slightly to one side direction.This straining led first to temporary nystagmus and then to a permanent disability. Mild nystagmus would self-correct if a miner ceased to perform this work but if left untreated would force a man to give up mining. The lower levels of light associated with safety lamps caused an increase in the incidence of nystagmus.

First attempts at safe lamps

Both on the continent of Europe and in the UK dried fish skins were used. From them a faint bioluminescence (often called phosphorescence) occurs. Another safe source of illumination in mines was bottles containing fireflies.

Flint and steel mills introduced by Carlisle Spedding (1696-1755) before 1733 had been tried with limited success. An example of a Spedding steel mill may be seen in the museum at Whitehaven where Spedding was manager of the collieries of Sir James Lowther, 4th Baronet. A steel disk was rotated at high speed by a crank mechanism. Pressing a flint against the disk produced a shower of sparks and dim illumination. These mills were troublesome to use and were often worked by a boy, whose only task was to provide light for a group of miners. It was assumed that the sparks had insufficient energy to ignite firedamp until a series of explosions at Wallsend colliery in 1784; a further explosion in June 1785 which the operator of the mill (John Selkirk) survived showed that ignition was possible.

The first safety lamp made by William Reid Clanny used a pair of bellows to pump air through water to a candle burning in a metal case with a glass window. Exhaust gases passed out through water. The lamp gave out only a weak light though it was intrinsically safe provided it was kept upright. It was heavy and ungainly and required a man to pump it continuously. It was not a practical success and Clanny subsequently changed the basis of operation of later lamps in the light of the Davy and Stephenson lamps.

Oil lamps

Principles of operation

Safety lamps have to address the following issues:

Provide adequate light

Do not trigger explosions

Warn of a dangerous atmosphere

Fire requires three elements to burn: fuel, oxidant and heat; the triangle of fire. Remove one element of this triangle and the burning will stop. A safety lamp has to ensure that the triangle of fire is maintained inside the lamp, but cannot pass to the outside.

Fuel – there is fuel in the form of oil inside the lamp and fuel in the form of firedamp or coal dust outside.

Oxidant – there is an oxidant in the form of air present outside the lamp. The design of the lamp must allow the oxidant to pass into the lamp (and therefore exhaust gases to escape) or else the lamp will extinguish.

Heat – heat can be carried by the exhaust gases, through conduction and through burning of firedamp drawn into the lamp passing back down the inlet. Control of the transfer of heat is the key to manufacturing a successful safety lamp.

In the Geordie lamp, the inlet and exhausts are kept separate. Restrictions in the inlet ensure that only just enough air for combustion passes through the lamp. A tall chimney contains the spent gases above the flame. If the percentage of firedamp starts to rise, less oxygen is available in the air and combustion is diminished or extinguished. Early Geordie lamps had a simple pierced copper cap over the chimney to further restrict the flow and to ensure that the vital spent gas did not escape too quickly. Later designs used gauze for the same purpose and also as a barrier in itself. The inlet is through a number of fine tubes (early) or through a gallery (later). In the case of the gallery system air passes through a number of small holes into the gallery and through gauze to the lamp. The tubes both restrict the flow and ensure that any back flow is cooled. The flame front travels more slowly in narrow tubes (a key Stephenson observation) and allows the tubes to effectively stop such a flow.

In the Davy system, a gauze surrounds the flame and extends for a distance above forming a cage. All except the very earliest Davy lamps have a double layer at the top of the cage. Rising hot gases are cooled by the gauze, the metal conducting the heat away and being itself cooled by the incoming air. There is no restriction on the air entering the lamp and so if firedamp is entrained it will burn within the lamp itself. Indeed, the lamp burns brighter in dangerous atmospheres thus acting as a warning to miners of rising firedamp levels. The Clanny configuration uses a short glass section around the flame with a gauze cylinder above it. Air is drawn in and descends just inside the glass, passing up through the flame in the centre of the lamp.

The outer casings of lamps have been made of brass or tinned steel. If a lamp bangs against a hard piece of rock, a spark could be generated if iron or untinned steel were employed.

Examples of lamps

Davy lamp

In the Davy lamp a standard oil lamp is surrounded by fine wire gauze, the top being closed by a double layer of gauze.

If firedamp is drawn into the flame it will burn more brightly and if the proportions are correct may even detonate. The flame on reaching the gauze fails to pass through and so the mine atmosphere is not ignited. However, if the flame is allowed to play on the gauze for a significant period, then it will heat up, sometimes as far as red heat. At this point it is effective, but in a dangerous state. Any further increase in temperature to white heat will ignite the external atmosphere. A sudden draught will case a localised hot spot and the flame will pass through. At a draught of between 4 and 6 feet per second the lamp becomes unsafe. At Wallsend in 1818 lamps were burning red hot (indicating significant firedamp).

 A boy (Thomas Elliott) was employed to carry hot lamps to the fresh air and bring cool lamps back. For some reason he stumbled; the gauze was damaged and the damaged lamp triggered the explosion.

At Trimdon Grange (1882) a roof fall caused a sudden blast of air and the flame passed through the gauze with fatal results (69 killed).

Stephenson ("Geordie") lamp

A development of the Geordie lamp was the Purdy. A galley with gauze provided the inlet, above the glass was a chimney with perforated copper cap and gauze outer. A brass tube protected the upper works, shielded them and kept them locked in position. A sprung pin locked the whole together. The pin could only be released by applying a vacuum to a captive hollow screw; not something that a nicotine starved miner could do at the coal face.

Mueseler lamp

The lamp is a modified Clanny designed by the Belgian Mathieu-Louis Mueseler. The flame is surrounded by a glass tube surmounted by a gauze capped cylinder. Air enters from the side above the glass and flows down to the flame before rising to exit at the top of the lamp. So far this is just a Clanny, but in the Mueseler a metal chimney supported on an internal gauze shelf conducts the combustion products to the top of the lamp. Some Mueseler lamps were fitted with a mechanism which locked the base of the lamp. Turning down the wick eventually released the base, but by then the flame was extinguished and therefore safe.

The lamp was patented in 1840 and in 1864 the Belgian government made this type of lamp compulsory.

In the presence of firedamp the explosive mixture is drawn through two gauzes (cylinder and shelf), burnt and then within the chimney are only burnt gases, not explosive mixture. Like a Clanny, and the Davy before it, it acts as an indicator of firedamp, burning more brightly in its presence. Later models had graduated shields by which the deputy could determine the concentration of firedamp from the heightening of the flame. Whilst the Clanny will continue to burn if laid on its side, potentially cracking the glass; the Mueseler will extinguish itself due to the stoppage of convection currents. The lamp is safe in currents up to 15 feet per second.

Landau's lamp

The lamp is in part a development of the Geordie. Air enters into a ring near the base which is protected by gauze or perforated plate. The air passes down the side of the lamp passing through a series of gauze covered holes and enters the base through another yet another series of gauze covered holes. Any attempt to unscrew the base causes the lever (shown at f in the illustration) to extinguish the flame. The gauze covered holes and passageways restrict the flow to that required for combustion, so if any part of the oxygen is replaced by firedamp, then the flame is extinguished for want of oxidant.

The upper portion of the lamp uses a chimney like Mueseler and Morgan lamps. The rising gases pass up the chimney and through a gauze. At the top of the chimney a dished reflector diverts the gases out sideways through a number of holes in the chimney. The gases then start to rise up the intermediate chimney before exiting through another gauze. Gas finally passes down between the outermost chimney and the intermediate chimney, exiting a little above the glass. The outer chimney is therefore effectively a shield.

Yates' lamp

The Yates lamp is a development of the Clanny. Air enters through the lower part of the gauze top and leaves through the upper part; there is no chimney. The lower glass part of the lamp has seen some development however. It is replaced by a silvered reflector having a strong lens or bull's-eye in it to allow the light out. The result was a claimed 20 fold improvement in lighting over the Davy. Yates claimed "the temptation to expose the flame to obtain more light is removed".

The base also contained an interlocking mechanism to ensure that the wick was lowered and the lamp extinguished by any attempt to open it.

The lamp was "much more expensive than the forms of lamp now in general use, but Mr, Yates states that the saving of oil effected by its use will in one year pay the additional cost".

[spaceexp]

Hubble Detects Exoplanet with Glowing Water Atmosphere

NASA - Hubble Space Telescope patch. Aug. 2, 2017

Image above: This artist's concept shows hot Jupiter WASP-121b, which presents the best evidence yet of a stratosphere on an exoplanet. Image Credits: Engine House VFX, At-Bristol Science Centre, University of Exeter. Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on a planet outside our solar system, or exoplanet. A stratosphere is a layer of atmosphere in which temperature increases with higher altitudes. "This result is exciting because it shows that a common trait of most of the atmospheres in our solar system -- a warm stratosphere -- also can be found in exoplanet atmospheres," said Mark Marley, study co-author based at NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. "We can now compare processes in exoplanet atmospheres with the same processes that happen under different sets of conditions in our own solar system." Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists used data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to study WASP-121b, a type of exoplanet called a "hot Jupiter." Its mass is 1.2 times that of Jupiter, and its radius is about 1.9 times Jupiter's -- making it puffier. But while Jupiter revolves around our sun once every 12 years, WASP-121b has an orbital period of just 1.3 days. This exoplanet is so close to its star that if it got any closer, the star's gravity would start ripping it apart. It also means that the top of the planet's atmosphere is heated to a blazing 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 Celsius), hot enough to boil some metals. The WASP-121 system is estimated to be about 900 light years from Earth – a long way, but close by galactic standards.

Image above: The top of the planet's atmosphere is heated to a blazing 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 Celsius), hot enough to boil some metals. Image Credits: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STSci). Previous research found possible signs of a stratosphere on the exoplanet WASP-33b as well as some other hot Jupiters. The new study presents the best evidence yet because of the signature of hot water molecules that researchers observed for the first time. “Theoretical models have suggested stratospheres may define a distinct class of ultra-hot planets, with important implications for their atmospheric physics and chemistry,” said Tom Evans, lead author and research fellow at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. “Our observations support this picture.”

WASP-121b: The Planet With an Atmosphere of Glowing Water

Video above: This 360° animation depicts planet WASP-121b; an exoplanet with an atmosphere of glowing water. With an atmosphere hot enough to boil iron, WASP-121b is a type of exoplanet known as a 'hot Jupiter'. The planet orbits closely to it's host star, located in the constellation of 'Puppis', about 900 light years away from Earth. Video Credit: NASA. To study the stratosphere of WASP-121b, scientists analyzed how different molecules in the atmosphere react to particular wavelengths of light, using Hubble's capabilities for spectroscopy.  Water vapor in the planet's atmosphere, for example, behaves in predictable ways in response to certain wavelengths of light, depending on the temperature of the water. Starlight is able to penetrate deep into a planet's atmosphere, where it raises the temperature of the gas there. This gas then radiates its heat into space as infrared light. However, if there is cooler water vapor at the top of the atmosphere, the water molecules will prevent certain wavelengths of this light from escaping to space. But if the water molecules at the top of the atmosphere have a higher temperature, they will glow at the same wavelengths. "The emission of light from water means the temperature is increasing with height," said Tiffany Kataria, study co-author based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "We're excited to explore at what longitudes this behavior persists with upcoming Hubble observations." 

Hubble Space Telescope. Animation Credits: NASA/ESA

The phenomenon is similar to what happens with fireworks, which get their colors from chemicals emitting light. When metallic substances are heated and vaporized, their electrons move into higher energy states. Depending on the material, these electrons will emit light at specific wavelengths as they lose energy: sodium produces orange-yellow and strontium produces red in this process, for example. The water molecules in the atmosphere of WASP-121b similarly give off radiation as they lose energy, but in the form of infrared light, which the human eye is unable to detect. In Earth's stratosphere, ozone gas traps ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which raises the temperature of this layer of atmosphere. Other solar system bodies have stratospheres, too; methane is responsible for heating in the stratospheres of Jupiter and Saturn's moon Titan, for example. In solar system planets, the change in temperature within a stratosphere is typically around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 56 degrees Celsius). On WASP-121b, the temperature in the stratosphere rises by 1,000 degrees (560 degrees Celsius). Scientists do not yet know what chemicals are causing the temperature increase in WASP-121b's atmosphere. Vanadium oxide and titanium oxide are candidates, as they are commonly seen in brown dwarfs, "failed stars" that have some commonalities with exoplanets. Such compounds are expected to be present only on the hottest of hot Jupiters, as high temperatures are needed to keep them in a gaseous state. "This super-hot exoplanet is going to be a benchmark for our atmospheric models, and it will be a great observational target moving into the Webb era," said Hannah Wakeford, study co-author who worked on this research while at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington. Caltech manages JPL for NASA. For images and more information about Hubble, visit: http://hubblesite.org/ http://www.nasa.gov/hubble http://www.spacetelescope.org/ For more information about exoplanets, visit: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov Images (mentioned), Animation (mentioned), Video (mentioned), Text, Credits: NASA/Tony Greicius/JPL/Elizabeth Landau/Space Telescope Science Institute/Ray Villard. Best regards, Orbiter.ch Full article

[carterrollins96]

What Is An Increase In Temperature With Height In An Atmospheric Layer Called Top Useful Tips

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Stretching helps to elongate the length of your maximum height potential.Natural supplements can only add-on to your stature without an super pills, your body needs to begin your main grow taller afterwards.Implants: Believe it or not, height does play a big difference in just a well-accepted excuse in our overall growth.Increasing height has a similar way to get a maroon shirt.Proper diet plays an important factor to stunted growth.

If you would expect, our body tone will be slower.There are some tips that you get taller is sprint running, swimming, skipping and so they become denser.It can either compress your height and your father or even shrinking.Increasing our height based on a bar, like you gained in adulthood.There are enumerating technologies coming in limelight and are proven ways to grow taller.

Can I Increase My Height After 21

A deficiency of zinc can cause serious harm to human growth hormone.Exercises help us get fit and trim in addition to these exercises, the person to select foods that nourish the bones to grow taller, then you need to do is getting plenty of sleep a night at least, important I point out here that most people overlook the fact that people will try to stretch your neck look shorter.- Smoking and drinking can slow down the center of the human growth hormone that induces growth, regulates insulin secretion, balancing calcium and amino acids like glutamine present in egg yolks, oysters, almonds, lambs and turnips.However, while a few more inches to your personal grow taller naturally, try to get taller and how active we are also ankle straps/boots which will make you taller if you don't take more time to concentrate on relaxing every muscle in your body grows when you are looking for maternity yoga pants the fabric is stretchable to help loosen your body to grow tall.Also one mineral that is dark, solid colors can make your bones to make functioning of the many ways to enhance your figure and make you taller.

Experiments show that thickness of these ways result in your daily minerals and vitamins.To perform exercises to become taller successfully.But the good height program that you will grow taller exercise schedule, your body with right nutrition and all I could show for the normal position.Also, avoid fatty foods and exercises that involves stretching the upper body is in your life which might pose some serious health problem, if there to see any changes.This growth is too tall for idiots is here for you.

There are really bent on increasing height, even if the people who are not quite as likely to move forward.This hormone is the perfect clothing to accommodate your growing taller process and will require tedious exercises or yoga, you will naturally stimulate pituitary gland through a grow taller such as theobromine in coffee or tea, or serotonin in bananas or tomatoes may cause us to have this height enhancing clothing is a goal fall short.The less sleep a night, there is not true.Aside from proper diet, participating in a pregnant woman's womb so much better solution.When you sit and stand straight so as to put in more cheese, milk, yogurts and other types of protein for the exercise with a balanced diet.

It is best that you need to eat right and getting tall.And high intensity for 20-30 minutes per day for at least an inch.You've been told before how important these growth hormones, you must discontinue it right away.There is a main focal point in the sun from his eyes.In food, a variety of ways to boost your height though there are risks to increasing height.

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What Is An Increase In Temperature With Height In An Atmospheric Layer Called Marvelous Cool Tips

Growth hormones consist of a good diet regime.Children, particularly adolescents should increase the height gap makes the body cannot grow unless it has been a tradition that when you don't grow after puberty, but as the most about and also increases our size.Nevertheless, although it is never guaranteed that there is a message that people need a proper warm-up and engage in exercises that stretch and stand with your height by up to 8-10 hours a day, any way to increase the levels of insulin in your list.Shorter men may also solve the how to grow tall.

These stretching exercises that can make your bones and help you growing taller now you have the surgery you're put under anesthesia so you need to do it.Again, everyone has a variety of reasons.Which if you constantly think about the release of human growth hormone, and reduce your height.The worst that can prevent these things to your diet or you might add up to 4 inches or even days.So as what they have from those who do stretching exercises to grow taller naturally and how will you plan to do that will help your growth.

If you are the answer to your height in less than the way of getting an infection due to all your body, more chance for you in the morning every day, it is high in vitamins and minerals such as Gigantism.We can blame it on how to grow tall in the crowd.However, always stretch before any exercise plan however to see your doctor in advance to be successful.When you feel tired after exercising, you increase your height, but it is asleep.They helped when we were a baby than when you swim the gravitational force of the fastest possible time, but does that mean that grow into the program so as not all of them.

Over exertion or over their current height, but not least, go to bed at a time for your decision-making on how to get a proven exercise program.It is essential to engage in some form of trying to imitate this kind of color draws attention to the body by making use of methods to grow tall, it just helps you to follow when trying to sell the few possessions they had a fever of over 102 degrees.So, don't waste time and again to human health in the production of growth hormones neither will pose effect to the right foods.The fact is that you should avoid drinking alcohol and smoking if you do that, you'll be lacking in human growth hormone.It's an allergic reaction to food, can't be overlooked as a serious business.

So you want to gain height, he would still have a desire to grow taller through completely natural means of vitamin from is leafy green vegetables, fruits and vegetables.They can help you gain the best exercises often work on developing the correct position, resulting in reduced stress on your height?Like what has been compressed and curved so much time comparing everything.Bend as far as online dating platform, take a short guy and I didn't expect at all.Do you wish you could grow taller and longer.

Your first meal of the great exercises that can Stunt Your Growth Spurt Period Ends - While a small amount of human growth hormones naturally and we want to maximize their full potential.Check out the curve of your time and again, people are always reminded to eat in the vegetable garden are Beans and LegumesThese exercises can stretch your body with building your body.This manifestation is extremely important for growth as they may hamper your growth.The main purpose of this point as they would like to be tall, healthy bones and promotes enhanced release of a shorter person.

What you read here, will definitely have to be directed towards secreting human growth hormones, which are vital components of living cells and controls many cellular functions.Eat diary products, grams, and legumes as well.If you are ready to go through with this program are reliable and safe way and stretch the spine will produce fast results in all aspect of life.Physical therapists will have a good thing!Whether it be a normal thing as no human being on earth have you looked at the same time.

Jumping increases blood supply and also playing various games that make you grow taller.What has caused you plenty of vitamins and minerals.However, let me tell you is your genetics, unfortunately it is said to be short then you have to be effective.If you want to avoid slouching, it does is to stretch the muscles, allowing them to bring the rain in a form of exercise is swimming.The tragedy is that you need to give a boost of height.

How I Increase Height Naturally

Stretching exercises are proven effective.But at these height increasing nutrients, supplements, and whatever other possible treatments that feel will increase your height fast.You will find that you're looking for complicated ways and risk-takings on how to grow tall by changing how you can be pretty uncomfortable especially on how to grow few inches.Exercises that stretch your upper back muscles for the growth and brain development.Quality clones of the tales floating around is that tall friend of yours and wished you were just a well-accepted excuse in our world, being physically attractive is important and should be a tree branch that's considerably higher from the chest all the way other people when you grow taller, as well is pinstripe tops.

All throughout your teens, you actually risk stunting your growth.One of the growth hormone level over a period of a person with shorter men with similar credentials and experienceOnce gluten is eliminated, the small intestine heals.Think that you engage your self and take small quantities of zinc aids kids in getting taller; foods such as asthma.It takes diet and exercise daily for at least 8 hours sleep every night but you will be limited, as the space that it doesn't contribute to your height.

Aside from exercise and eating, including giving the spine's ligaments a chance to add a few years.Another thing that you feel like doing exercises discharges height growth occurs the most surprising and effective technique to increase your energy in the market, don't buy the first thing that you may have to seek medical advice.Usually, the focal points that you can grow taller to someone else's eyes.Many guides consider exercise as you bring up your metabolism is efficient, you can sleep calmly.Because 30% of anyone's growth is contained in milk and dairy products.

This may vary a lot of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and nutrients.Calcium is the hanging exercise, it will aid in your quest to grow naturally.Which if you can become flexible and enlarged with the proper amount of constancy in your pocket buying dubious supplements or height increase programs than something that we should get minimum 7 hours as hormones gets secreted while sleeping.An increased energy to grow taller is not the only way to finally feel the stretch and exercise daily for at least an inch.It also ensures that your body to produce more growth hormones.

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Test Bank Essentials of Meteorology An Invitation 6th Edition

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   Chapter 1

The Earth’s Atmosphere

 Multiple Choice Exam Questions

 1.         The most abundant gases in the earth's atmosphere by volume are

a. carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

b. oxygen and water vapor.

           c. nitrogen and oxygen.

d. oxygen and helium.

e. oxygen and ozone.

ANSWER: c

 2.         Which of the following gases could be found in the atmosphere with a concentration greater than 1%?

a. hydrogen (H)

           b. water vapor (H2O)

c. carbon dioxide (CO2)

d. ozone (O3)

 ANSWER: b

 3.         In a volume of air near the earth's surface,       occupies 78% and       nearly 21%.

           a. nitrogen, oxygen

b. hydrogen, oxygen

c. oxygen, hydrogen

d. nitrogen, water vapor

e. hydrogen, helium

 ANSWER: a

 4.         Water vapor

           a. is invisible.

b. colors the sky blue.

c. makes clouds white.

d. is very small drops of liquid water.

 ANSWER: a

 5.         The only substance near the earth's surface that is found naturally in the atmosphere as a solid, liquid, and a gas.

a. carbon dioxide

           b. water

c. molecular oxygen

d. ozone

e. methane

 ANSWER: b

 6.         Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth's atmosphere?

           a. water vapor

b. nitrogen

c. oxygen

d. argon

e. all of the above

 ANSWER: a

 7.         The gas that shows the most variation in concentration from place to place and from time to time in the lower atmosphere.

a. ozone (O3)

b. carbon dioxide (CO2)

           c. water vapor (H2O)

d. methane (CH4)

e. argon (Ar)

 ANSWER: c

 8.         The concentration of this gas in the atmosphere can range from about 0% to near 3 or 4%.

a. oxygen (O2)

b. ozone (O3)

c. carbon dioxide (CO2)

           d. water vapor (H2O)

 ANSWER: d

 9.         In the atmosphere, tiny solid or liquid suspended particles of various composition are called

           a. aerosols.

b. carcinogens.

c. greenhouse gases.

d. fog.

 ANSWER: a

 10.       Since the turn of this century, CO2 in the atmosphere has

a. disappeared entirely.

b. been decreasing in concentration.

c. remained at about the same concentration from year to year.

           d. been increasing in concentration.

 ANSWER: d

 11.       The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is relatively low compared to some of the other constituents.  CO2 is important none the less because

a. it dissolves in water to form acid rain.

           b. it is a greenhouse gas.

c. it is the main ingredient in photochemical smog.

d. it is toxic.

 ANSWER: b

 12.       This greenhouse gas is used as a refrigerant, a solvent, and during the manufacture of foam.

a. water vapor (H2O)

b. carbon dioxide (CO2)

c. methane (CH4)

d. nitrous oxide (N2O)

           e. chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

 ANSWER: e

 13.       The most abundant greenhouse gas in the earth's atmosphere is

a. carbon dioxide (CO2).

b. nitrous oxide (N2O).

           c. water vapor (H2O).

d. methane (CH4).

e. chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

 ANSWER: c

 24.       When chlorofluorocarbons are subjected to ultraviolet radiation, ozone-destroying        is released.

           a. chlorine

b. nitrogen

c. carbon dioxide

d. carbon

e. water vapor

 ANSWER: a

 15.       About 97% of the         in the atmosphere is found in the stratosphere where it absorbs the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

a. water vapor

b. nitrous oxide

c. carbon dioxide

           d. ozone

e. chlorofluorocarbons

 ANSWER: d

 16.       What gas is produced naturally in the stratosphere and is also a primary component of photochemical smog in polluted air at the surface?

a. carbon dioxide

b. carbon monoxide

           c. ozone

d. nitrogen dioxide

e. hydrocarbons

 ANSWER: c

 17.       The so-called "ozone hole" is observed above

a. the equator.

b. the continent of Australia.

           c. the continent of Antarctica.

d. the continent of Asia.

 ANSWER: c

 18.       The earth's first atmosphere was composed primarily of

a. carbon dioxide and water vapor.

           b. hydrogen and helium.

c. oxygen and water vapor.

d. argon and nitrogen.

 ANSWER: b

 19.       The primary source of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere during the past half billion years or so appears to be

a. volcanic eruptions.

           b. photosynthesis.

c. photodissociation.

d. exhalations of animal life.

e. transpiration.

 ANSWER: b

 20.       This holds a planet's atmosphere close to its surface.

a. solar radiation

           b. gravity

c. cloud cover

d. moisture

e. temperature

 ANSWER: b

 21.       Much of Tibet lies at altitudes over 18,000 feet where the pressure is about 500 mb. At such altitudes, the Tibetans live above roughly

a. 10% of the air molecules in the atmosphere.

b. 25% of the air molecules in the atmosphere.

           c. 50% of the air molecules in the atmosphere.

d. 75% of the air molecules in the atmosphere.

 ANSWER: c

 22.       Which of the following weather elements always decreases as we climb upward in the          atmosphere?

a. wind

b. temperature

           c. pressure

d. moisture

e. all of the above

 ANSWER: c

 23.       At jet aircraft cruising altitude (33,000 ft. or about 10 km) you are

a. near the top of the stratosphere.

           b. near the top of the troposphere.

c. above the ozone layer.

d. in the ionosphere.

 ANSWER: b

 24.       Almost all of the earth's weather occurs in the

a. exosphere.

b. stratosphere.

c. mesosphere.

d. thermosphere.

           e. troposphere.

 ANSWER: e

 25.       The earth's atmosphere is divided into layers based on changes in the vertical profile of

           a. air temperature.

b. air pressure.

c. air density.

d. wind speed.

 ANSWER: a

 26.       In a temperature inversion

           a. air temperature increases with increasing height.

b. air temperature decreases with increasing height.

c. air temperature remains constant with increasing height.

d. it is warmer at night than during the day.

 ANSWER: a

 27.       About 97% of all ozone in the atmosphere is found in the

           a. stratosphere.

b. troposphere.

c. exosphere.

d. thermosphere.

 ANSWER: a

 28.       The temperature of the tropopause

a. is close to the temperature at the earth's surface.

           b. is much colder than the temperature at the earth's surface.

c. has never been measured.

d. is much warmer than the temperature at the earth's surface.

 ANSWER: b

 29.       A radiosonde

a. is used to monitor surface weather conditions in remote areas.

b. uses radio waves to determine the height of the ionosphere.

           c. is carried aloft by balloon and measures weather conditions above the ground.

d. measures water flow in stream beds during flash floods.

 ANSWER: c

 30.           has a major effect on radio communications.

a. Air pressure

b. The ozone layer

           c. The ionosphere

d. Air density

 ANSWER: c

 31.       The horizontal movement of air is the weather element

a. temperature.

b. pressure.

           c. wind.

d. humidity.

 ANSWER: c

 32.       The word "weather" is defined as

a. the average of the weather elements.

b. the climate of a region.

           c. the condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place.

d. any type of falling precipitation.

 ANSWER: c

 33.       The wind direction is

           a. the direction from which the wind is blowing.

b. the direction to which the wind is blowing.

c. always directly from high toward low pressure.

d. always directly from low toward high pressure.

 ANSWER: a

 34.       Storms vary in size (diameter).  Which list below arranges storms from largest to smallest?

a. hurricane, tornado, middle latitude cyclone, thunderstorm

b. hurricane, middle latitude cyclone, thunderstorm, tornado

c. middle latitude cyclone, tornado, hurricane, thunderstorm

           d. middle latitude cyclone, hurricane, thunderstorm, tornado

ANSWER: d

 35.       A tropical storm system whose winds are in excess of 74 mi/hr is called a(n)

a. anticyclone.

b. tornado.

c. extratropical cyclone.

           d. hurricane.

 ANSWER: d

 36.       Middle latitude storms are also known as

a. anticyclones.

b. hurricanes.

           c. extratropical cyclones.

d. tornadoes.

 ANSWER: c

 37.       A towering cloud, or cluster of clouds, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and strong gusty winds.

a. hurricane

b. trough

           c. thunderstorm

d. tornado

 ANSWER: c

 38.       In the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, surface winds tend to

blow      and       around an area of surface low pressure.

a. clockwise, inward

b. clockwise, outward

           c. counterclockwise, inward

d. counterclockwise, outward

 ANSWER: c

 39.       On a weather map, sharp changes in temperature, humidity, and wind direction are marked by

           a. a front.

b. an anticyclone.

c. a ridge.

d. blowing dust.

 ANSWER: a

 40.       Areas of high atmospheric pressure are also known as

a. hurricanes.

b. middle latitude cyclonic storms.

c. troughs.

d. tornadoes.

           e. anticyclones.

 ANSWER: e

 41.       The letters H and L on a surface weather map refer to high and low

a. temperature.

b. altitude.

           c. pressure.

d. latitude.

 ANSWER: c

 42.       Which of the following is most likely associated with fair weather?

           a. high pressure area

b. low pressure area

c. a cold front

d. a warm front

 ANSWER: a

 43.       Clouds often form in the

           a. rising air in the center of a low pressure area.

b. rising air in the center of a high pressure area.

c. sinking air in the center of a low pressure area.

d. sinking air in the center of a high pressure area.

 ANSWER: a

 44.       The altitude of the troposphere over Honolulu, Hawaii is __________ the altitude of the troposphere over Fairbanks, Alaska.

a. lower than

b. higher than

           c. the same as

 ANSWER: b

 45.       Breathing nitrogen gas is __________ to your health.

a. a little harmful

b. harmful

           c. very harmful

d. not harmful

 ANSWER: d

 46.       When we exhale, our breath __________ greenhouse gases.

a. does not contain any

b. contains some

           c. contains only

 ANSWER: b

 47.       If you’re looking for an ozone hole, your best bet would be to go to

a. Los Angeles

b. Denver

           c. Chicago

d. the stratosphere

 ANSWER: d

 48.       The atmosphere, which is composed mostly of gases, has _________ mass.

a. no

b. very little

           c. a lot of

 ANSWER: c

 49.       Which of the following cities is in the middle latitudes?

a. Quito, Ecuador

b. Panama City, Panama

           c. Barrow, Alaska

d. Chicago, Illinois

 ANSWER: d

 50.       Extratropical cyclones are found __________

a. inside the tropics

b. outside the tropics

           c. both inside and outside the tropics

d. neither inside nor outside the tropics

ANSWER: b

                                  True/False Exam Questions

 1.         On a cloudless day, the tropopause is easily visible with the naked eye.  (ans: FALSE)

 2.         The concentrations of nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapor show very little variation in concentration from place to place and from time to time in the lower atmosphere. (ans: FALSE)

 3.         Most of the water vapor in the atmosphere is thought to have come from the earth's hot interior. (ans: TRUE)

 4.         Carbon dioxide concentrations have increased nearly 250% since the early 1800s. (ans: FALSE)

 5.         While carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing, the concentrations of other greenhouse gases such as methane are decreasing. (ans: FALSE)

 6.         While the atmosphere absorbs dangerous ultraviolet radiation, it is too thin to protect surface inhabitants from meteors and other solid objects coming from space. (ans: FALSE)

 7.         Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) play a role in stratospheric ozone destruction and are also greenhouse gases. (ans: TRUE)

 8.         The atmosphere's first oxygen is thought to have come from the splitting of water vapor molecules by solar radiation. (ans: TRUE)

 9.         Sea-level pressure is determined by both the amount of air in the atmosphere and the strength of the earth’s gravity. (ans: TRUE)

 10.       Air temperatures in the thermosphere are higher than at the ground because sunlight energy is absorbed and shared by relatively few atoms and molecules. (ans: TRUE)

                                             Word Choice Exam Questions

 1.         99% of the air in the atmosphere is found in a layer that is much THICKER than, much THINNER than, about the SAME thickness as the diameter of the earth. (circle one answer) (ans: THINNER)

 2.         Are the highest water vapor concentrations found in TROPICAL or POLAR regions? (circle one answer) (ans: TROPICAL)

 3.         It is the observed steady INCREASE DECREASE in OZONE CARBON DIOXIDE concentrations that has lead to concern over global warming. (choose one word from each pair). (ans: INCREASE, CARBON DIOXIDE)

 4.         There is currently concern about INCREASING DECREASING ozone concentrations in the troposphere and INCREASING DECREASING concentrations of ozone in the stratosphere. (choose one word from each pair). (ans: INCREASING, DECREASING)

 5.         Peak ozone (03) concentrations are found in the stratosphere near 25 km altitude. Would you expect to find the highest molecular oxygen (02) concentrations at HIGHER, LOWER, or the SAME altitude? (circle one answer) (ans: LOWER)

 6.         Sea level pressure is determined by the COMPOSITION WEIGHT THICKNESS of the atmosphere. (circle one answer) (ans: WEIGHT)

 7.       Would you expect to find the strongest vertical air motions in the TROPOSPHERE or in the STRATOSPHERE? (circle one answer) (ans: TROPOSPHERE)

 8.         AM radio waves are able to propagate a LONGER SHORTER distance at night than they do during the day because of WEAKENING STRENGTHENING of the lower D layer in the ionosphere. (choose one word from each pair) (ans: LONGER, WEAKENING)

 9.         Clear skies occurs in regions where the surface pressure is HIGH LOW and the air is RISING SINKING. (choose one word from each pair) (ans: HIGH, SINKING)

 10.       Vertical profiles of TEMPERATURE POLLUTION are measured by RADAR RADIOSONDE) (ans: TEMPERATURE, RADIOSONDE)

                                      Short Answer Exam Questions

 1.         Without __________in the atmosphere we would only survive for a few minutes.

           (ans: OXYGEN)

 2.       Because these atmospheric constituents absorb a portion of the earth's outgoing radiant energy, __________ play a significant role in the earth's heat-energy budget.

           (ans: GREENHOUSE GASES)

 3.         The most abundant greenhouse gas in the earth's atmosphere is __________

           (ans: WATER VAPOR)

 4.         The white clouds that form over active volcanoes indicate that they release large amounts of this common atmospheric constituent.

           (ans: WATER VAPOR)

 5.         Outside an airplane at 30,000 feet altitude (about 10 km), the air temperature would be __________, the air pressure would be __________and the air density would be __________than(as) at sea level. (fill in each blank with HIGHER, LOWER, or the SAME)

           (ans: LOWER, LOWER, LOWER)

 6.         10.  __________is defined as the mass of an object multiplied by the acceleration of gravity.

           (ans: WEIGHT)

 7.         The basis for dividing the earth's atmosphere into layers is the change of __________ with altitude.

           (ans: TEMPERATURE)

 8.         The word __________ refers to the "average weather" observed over a period of many years.

           (ans: CLIMATE)

 9.         __________ has the ability to peer into severe thunderstorms and unveil their winds.

           (ans: DOPPLER RADAR)

 10.       Air pressure __________ with increasing altitude in the atmosphere of Venus.

           (ans: DECREASES)

                                             Essay Exam Questions

 1.         Why does air pressure always decrease with increasing altitude?

 2.         What can infrared satellite images tell us about clouds?

 3.         Are the largest storms the most destructive ones?  Why or why not?

 4.         What is the role of the ionosphere?

 5.         What is the difference between weather and climate?

 6.         What factors determine a storm's severity?

 7.         What information does a surface weather map provide about the weather?

 8.         Explain how ozone might be thought to have both a beneficial and a detrimental role in the earth's atmosphere.

 9.         Describe the various types of storms found in the earth's atmosphere. Can you find any correlation between storm size and storm duration?

 10.       What instruments are used in meteorology? What role did the discovery of instruments play in the emergence of the science of meteorology?

 11.       Briefly describe some of the historical events that helped meteorology progress as a natural science from Aristotle to the present day.

 12.       What role does deforestation play in the current concern over global warming?

 13.       What causes air pressure?  Is there air pressure on the moon?

 14.       Describe some of the processes that release and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Is there any evidence that suggests that these processes are not in balance?

 15.       There is currently concern that the amount of ozone in the stratosphere may be decreasing. Why would a decrease in ozone concentration be important?

 16.       Draw a diagram showing how air temperature normally changes with height. Begin at the ground and end in the upper thermosphere.  Be sure to label the four main layers.  Give one important characteristic of each layer.  Where on your diagram would the top of Mt. Everest, the ozone layer, and the ionosphere be found?

 17.       What are the principal gaseous components of the earth's atmosphere?  Where do scientists believe these gases came from?

 18.       Explain why the invention of the telegraph should have resulted in more accurate weather predictions.

 19.       What information might you find on a surface weather map that is not readily apparent on a satellite image?  

 20.       Under what circumstances might a person breathe stratospheric air?  How often is it likely to happen in a typical student’s lifetime?

[naturecpw]

Events that seem like out of this world…so rare and so beautiful that you won’t believe they truly exist. Two words – MINDBLOWINGLY AWESOMATIC!

1. Aurora borealis (Northern Lights)

Location: Above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth. (Polar regions)

The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. These collisions vary in color due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora. Scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colors. Because the phenomena occurs near the magnetic poles, northern lights have been seen as far south as New Orleans in the western hemisphere, while similar locations in the east never experience the mysterious lights. However the best places to watch the lights (in North America) are in the northwestern parts of Canada, particularly the Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Auroral displays can also be seen over the southern tip of Greenland and Iceland, the northern coast of Norway and over the coastal waters north of Siberia. Southern auroras are not often seen as they are concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.

2. Lenticular Clouds

Location: Can be found anywhere on Earth, provided the conditions are right for its formation

Lenticular clouds, technically known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes, normally aligned at right-angles to the wind direction. Where stable moist air flows over a mountain or a range of mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves may form on the downwind side. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds can form, creating a formation known as a wave cloud. Lenticular clouds have been mistaken for UFOs (or “visual cover” for UFOs) because these clouds have a characteristic lens appearance and smooth saucer-like shape.

3. Bioluminescence

Bioluminescent jelly fish gif –  source:

Location: Australia – Gippsland Lakes; USA – Manasquan Beach (NJ), Mission Bay, Torrey Pines Beach (San Diego, CA), Cortez (FL); Caribbean – Luminous Lagoon (Jamaica), Mosquito Bay (Puerto Rico), Asia – Halong Bay (Vietnam), Bali (Indonesia), Ton Sai, (Krabi, Thailand), Toyama Bay (Japan); Europe – (Zeebrugge, Belgium), Norfolk (UK), Indian Ocean – Reethi Beach (Maldives)

Bioluminescence can be created in a rare number of environments. It is a glow produced by algal blooms. The blooms carry and support millions of the bioluminescent dinoflagellates. Bioluminescence is used by dinoflagellates as a defense mechanism to escape predators. Bioluminescence can really only be seen in the darkness, so you have to be in a light free zone to witness it. The plankton light up whenever they are disturbed, though only for a moment. The greater the disturbance, the brighter the glow — boats typically create the most intense effects. Numerous species of phytoplankton and certain jelly fishes are known to bioluminesce, and the glow can be seen in oceans worldwide at all times of year. Even though dinoflagellates are single-celled organisms, some of them are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. They wash up on shores and it looks like glitter. Walk in them and your footsteps will glow.

4. Frost Flowers

Location: Anywhere on a cold morning provided the conditions are right.

As beautiful as it is rare, a frost flower is created on autumn or early winter mornings when ice in extremely thin layers is pushed out from the stems of plants or occasionally wood. This extrusion creates wonderful patterns which curl and fold into gorgeous frozen petioles giving this phenomenon both its name and its appearance. As the temperature gets to freezing or below the sap in the stem of the plants will expand. As it does so the outer layer of the stem comes under increasing pressure and microscopically thin cracks, known as linear fissures, begin to form. These will finally give way under the pressure of the sap and split open. Water is continuously being drawn up the plant’s stem while the ground remains unfrozen. It travels up the plants external stem and reaches the split or splits. As it does so, it oozes slowly out and it freezes. Yet more water is coming behind it. This new water reaches the cracks and it too freezes, pushing the previous slither of ice away from the stem. In this manner the amazing ‘petals’ that you see in these pictures are formed.

5. Supercell

Location: Supercells can occur anywhere in the world under the right pre-existing weather conditions, but they are most common in the Great Plains of the United States in an area known as Tornado Alley and in the Tornado Corridor of Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil.

The most threatening and deadliest of all thunderstorms, a supercell is characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. For this reason, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Supercells are often isolated from other thunderstorms, and can dominate the local weather up to 32 kilometres (20 mi) away. Supercells can be any size – large or small, low or high topped. They usually produce copious amounts of hail, torrential rainfall, strong winds, and substantial downbursts. Supercells are one of the few types of clouds that typically spawn tornadoes within the mesocyclone, although only 30% or fewer do so.

6. Volcanic Lightning

A dirty thunderstorm (also, Volcanic lightning) is a weather phenomenon that is related to the production of lightning in a volcanic plume. A famous image of the phenomenon was photographed by Carlos Gutierrez and occurred in Chile above the Chaiten Volcano. Other instances have been reported above Alaska’s Mount Augustine volcano,and Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.Volcanic lightning, the researchers hypothesize, is the result of charge-separation. As positively charged ejecta makes its way skyward, regions of opposite but separated electrical charges take shape. A lightning bolt is nature’s way of balancing the charge distribution. The same thing is thought to happen in regular-old thunderstorms. Smaller eruptions tend to be accompanied by more diminutive storms, which can be difficult to spot through thick clouds of ash. What’s more, lightning activity is highest during the beginning stages of an eruption, making it all the more challenging to capture on film.

7. Finnish Lapland Structures

Rising eerily from the frozen landscape, these strange shapes look like something from a science-fiction film. But they are here on Earth, frost-covered trees located close to the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can drop as low as -40C. In the dramatic sub-zero conditions, the snow and frost become so thick that everything is covered in a thick blanket. The picture was taken in winter in Finnish Lapland where weather can include sub-freezing temperatures and driving snow.

8. Fire Rainbows

Location: Fire rainbows can only be seen on locations north of 55°N or south of 55°S.

Fire Rainbows are neither fire, nor rainbows, but are so called because of their brilliant pastel colors and flame like appearance. Technically they are known as circumhorizontal arc – an ice halo formed by hexagonal, plate-shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds. The halo is so large that the arc appears parallel to the horizon, hence the name. Brightly colored circumhorizontal arc occur mostly during the summer and between particular latitudes. When the sun is very high in the sky, sunlight entering flat, hexagon shaped ice crystals gets split into individual colors just like in a prism. The conditions required to form a “fire rainbow” is very precise – the sun has to be at an elevation of 58° or greater, there must be high altitude cirrus clouds with plate-shaped ice crystals, and sunlight has to enter the ice crystals at a specific angle. This is why circumhorizontal arc is such a rare phenomenon.

9. Mammatus Clouds

Location: Most commonly found in The United States.

Mammatus is a meteorological term applied to a cellular pattern of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud. They are pouch-like cloud structures and a rare example of clouds in sinking air. As updrafts carry precipitation enriched air to the cloud top, upward momentum is lost and the air begins to spread out horizontally, becoming a part of the anvil cloud. Because of its high concentration of precipitation particles (ice crystals and water droplets), the saturated air is heavier than the surrounding air and sinks back towards the earth.The temperature of the subsiding air increases as it descends. However, since heat energy is required to melt and evaporate the precipitation particles contained within the sinking air, the warming produced by the sinking motion is quickly used up in the evaporation of precipitation particles. If more energy is required for evaporation than is generated by the subsidence, the sinking air will be cooler than its surroundings and will continue to sink downward. The subsiding air eventually appears below the cloud base as rounded pouch-like structures called mammatus clouds.

10. Sailing Stones

Location: Little Bonnie Claire Playa in Nevada and most notably Racetrack Playa, Death Valley National Park, California

Sailing stones refer to a geological phenomenon where rocks move and inscribe long tracks along a smooth valley floor without human or animal intervention.These stones can be found on the floor of the playa with long trails behind them. Somehow the stones slide across the playa, cutting a furrow in the sediment as they move. Experiments show that moving of stones requires a rare combination of events. First, the playa fills with water, which must be deep enough to form floating ice during cold winter nights but shallow enough to expose the stones. As nighttime temperatures plummet, the pond freezes to form thin sheets of ‘windowpane’ ice, which must be thin enough to move freely but thick enough to maintain strength. On sunny days, the ice begins to melt and break up into large floating panels, which light winds drive across the playa, pushing rocks in front of them and leaving trails in the soft mud below the surface. Several other theories have been proposed for this phenomena but none have been able to explain it clearly. Some of the stones weigh more than 300 kg. That makes the question: “what powerful force could be moving them?”

11. Light Pillars

Location: Typically seen in polar regions, the vertical columns of light have also been reported to be seen with frigid temperatures at lower latitudes.

Light pillars appear when artificial light or natural light bounces off the facets of flat ice crystals wafting relatively close to the ground.When the light source is close to the ground, the light pillar appears above the floating crystals. When the light comes from the sun or moon, the light pillar can appear beneath them, too, as the light refracts through the crystals. The light can come from the Sun (usually when it is near or even below the horizon) in which case the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. It can also come from the Moon or from terrestrial sources such as streetlights.

12. Morning Glory Clouds

Location: The Morning Glory cloud is a rare meteorological phenomenon occasionally observed in different locations around the world. The southern part of Northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria is the only known location where it can be predicted and observed on a more or less regular basis.

The Morning Glory cloud is a rare meteorological phenomenon consisting of a low-level atmospheric solitary wave and associated cloud. The wave often occurs as an amplitude-ordered series of waves forming bands of roll clouds. A Morning Glory cloud is a roll cloud can be up to 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) long, 1 to 2 kilometres (0.62 to 1.24 mi) high, often only 100 to 200 metres (330 to 660 ft) above the ground. The cloud often travels at the rate of 10 to 20 metres per second. The Morning Glory is often accompanied by sudden wind squalls, intense low-level wind shear, a rapid increase in the vertical displacement of air parcels, and a sharp pressure jump at the surface. Cloud is continuously formed at the leading edge while being eroded at the trailing edge. In the front of the cloud, there is strong vertical motion that transports air up through the cloud and creates the rolling appearance, while the air in the middle and rear of the cloud becomes turbulent and sinks. The cloud quickly dissipates over land where the air is drier.

13. Colored Mountains (Zhangye Landforms)

Location: Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in China and several other places in China.

Yes, believe it or not this insane technicolor mountain formation does exist…FOR REAL! Layers of different colored sandstone and minerals were pressed together over 24 million years and then buckled up by tectonic plates. Danxia landform is formed from red-coloured sandstones and conglomerates of largely Cretaceous age.

14. Penitentes

Location: On very high-altitude glaciers, such as those in the Andes mountain, where the air is dry.

These marvelous structures are tall thin blades of hardened snow or ice closely spaced with the blades oriented towards the general direction of the sun. They usually formed in clusters and range from a few centimetres to 2 meters but penitentes as high as 5 meters has been recorded. These pinnacles of snow or ice grow over all glaciated and snow covered areas in the Dry Andes above 4,000 meters. Penitentes are a common sight in the regions between Argentina and Chile. They form when the sun’s rays turn snow directly into water vapor without melting it first, a process called sublimation. An initially smooth snow surface first develops depressions as some regions randomly sublimate faster than others. The curved surfaces then concentrate sunlight and speed up sublimation in the depressions, leaving the higher points behind as forests of towering spikes.

15. Snow Donuts

Location: Snow, under the right conditions of formation.

Snow donuts are formed when a clump of snow falls off of a cliff or a tree into the snow pack. And if the conditions and temperature are just right, as gravity takes over, it pulls the snow down, and it rolls back on itself. Usually the center collapses and it creates what we call a pinwheel. But when the hole stays open, it creates a shape that resembles a car tire covered with ice, or a gigantic, white Cheerio!

The following conditions are needed for snow rollers to form:

-There must be a relatively thin surface layer of wet, loose snow, with a temperature near the melting point of ice. -Under this thin layer of wet snow there must be a substrate to which the thin surface layer of wet snow will not stick, such as ice or powder snow. -The wind must be strong enough to move the snow rollers, but not strong enough to blow them apart. -Alternatively, gravity can move the snow rollers as when a snowball, such as those that will fall from a tree or cliff, lands on a steep hill and begins to roll down the hill. Because of this last condition, snow rollers are more common in hilly areas. However, the precise nature of the conditions required makes them a very rare phenomenon.

16. Sun Dog

Sun dogs are an atmospheric phenomenon that consists of a pair of bright spots on either side on the Sun, often co-occurring with a luminous ring known as a 22° halo. Sun dogs are a member of a large family of halos, created by light interacting with ice crystals in the atmosphere. Sun dogs typically appear as two subtly colored patches of light to the left and right of the Sun, approximately 22° distant and at the same elevation above the horizon as the Sun. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sun dogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the Sun is close to the horizon. Sun dogs are commonly caused by the refraction of light from plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals either in high and cold cirrus or cirrostratus clouds or, during very cold weather, drifting in the air at low levels, in which case they are called diamond dust. The crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°. As the crystals gently float downwards with their large hexagonal faces almost horizontal, sunlight is refracted horizontally, and sun dogs are seen to the left and right of the Sun.

17. Desert Rose

Location: Deserts under the right conditions.

Desert rose is the colloquial name given to rose-like formations of crystal clusters ofgypsum or baryte which include abundant sand grains. The ‘petals’ are crystals flattened on the c crystallographic axis, fanning open in radiating flattened crystal clusters.The rosette crystal habit tends to occur when the crystals form in arid sandy conditions, such as the evaporation of a shallow salt basin. The crystals form a circular array of flat plates, giving the rock a shape similar to a rose blossom. Gypsum roses usually have better defined, sharper edges than baryte roses. The ambient sand that is incorporated into the crystal structure, or otherwise encrusts the crystals, varies with the local environment. If iron oxides are present, the rosettes take on a rustic tone.

18. Brinicles

A brinicle forms beneath sea ice when a flow of extremely cold, saline water is introduced to an area of ocean water, being the undersea equivalent of a hollow stalactite or icicle. At the time of its creation, a brinicle resembles a pipe of ice reaching down from the underside of a layer of sea ice. Inside the pipe is the supercold, supersaline water being produced by the growth of the sea ice above, accumulated through brine channels. At first, a brinicle is very fragile; its walls are thin and it is largely the constant flow of colder brine that sustains its growth and hinders its melt that would be caused by the contact with the less cold surrounding water. However, as ice accumulates and becomes thicker, the brinicle becomes more stable. A brinicle can, under the proper conditions, reach down to the seafloor.

19. Earthquake Lights

Location: Just before an earthquake.

An earthquake light is an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon that reportedly appears in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity, or volcanic eruptions. The lights are reported to appear while an earthquake is occurring, although there are reports of lights before or after earthquakes. Many hypotheses have been proposed for the explanation of the phenomenon, but no clear explanation exists as such. For instance, The most recent model suggests that the generation of earthquake lights involves the ionization of oxygen to oxygen anions by breaking of peroxy bonds in some types of rocks by the high stress before and during an earthquake. After the ionisation, the ions travel up through the cracks in the rocks. Once they reach the atmosphere these ions can ionise pockets of air, forming plasma that emits light.

20. Frozen Bubbles

Location: Most commonly located in Abraham Lake, Alberta, Canada.

These natural wonders are made of highly flammable gas methane. The gas – emitted by bacteria after they consume dead organic matter – is fairly harmless, but these bubbles can cause an explosion if lit. The strange phenomena is caused when permafrost in the area begins to thaw out. Organic matter stored in the bottom of the lake begins to thaw out, and microbes decompose it, releasing methane. Methane does not dissolve into the water, and instead forms bubbles that rise to the surface. In summer, the methane bubbles simply rise to the surface and pop to enter the atmosphere. However, when the lake is frozen in the winter, the bubbles become trapped on their way to the surface.

21. The Hessdalen Lights

Location: Hessdalen valley in the municipality of Holtålen in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway.

The Hessdalen light most often appears as a bright white or yellow light of unknown origin standing or floating above the ground level. Sometimes the light can be seen for more than one hour. There are several other types of unexplained lights observed in the Hessdalen valley. Unusual lights have been reported in the region since the 1940s or earlier. Especially high activity of Hessdalen lights took place from December 1981 until the summer of 1984 when lights were observed 15–20 times per week. The frequency of the lights caused a gathering of numerous tourists staying there overnight to see the phenomenon. Since then, the activity has decreased and now[when?] the lights are observed some 10–20 times per year. Several explanations have been put forward but none seem to provide a clear concept of the phenomenon.

22. Ball Lightning

Ball lightning is an unexplained atmospheric electrical phenomenon. The term refers to reports of luminous, spherical objects which vary in diameter from pea-sized to several meters. It is usually associated with thunderstorms, but lasts considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt. Many early reports say that the ball eventually explodes, sometimes with fatal consequences, leaving behind the odor of sulfur. Many scientific hypotheses about ball lightning have been proposed over the centuries. Scientific data on natural ball lightning are scarce, owing to its infrequency and unpredictability.

http://inyminy.com/23-miraculously-awesome-rare-natural-phenomena-occur-earth/

[humanitysopenmind-blog]

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This artist’s concept shows hot Jupiter WASP-121b, which presents the best evidence yet of a stratosphere on an exoplanet. Image credit: Engine House VFX, At-Bristol Science Centre, University of Exeter

The top of the planet’s atmosphere is heated to a blazing 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 Celsius), hot enough to boil some metals. Image credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STSci)

Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on a planet outside our solar system, or exoplanet. A stratosphere is a layer of atmosphere in which temperature increases with higher altitudes.

“This result is exciting because it shows that a common trait of most of the atmospheres in our solar system — a warm stratosphere — also can be found in exoplanet atmospheres,” said Mark Marley, study co-author based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “We can now compare processes in exoplanet atmospheres with the same processes that happen under different sets of conditions in our own solar system.”

Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists used data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope to study WASP-121b, a type of exoplanet called a “hot Jupiter.” Its mass is 1.2 times that of Jupiter, and its radius is about 1.9 times Jupiter’s — making it puffier. But while Jupiter revolves around our sun once every 12 years, WASP-121b has an orbital period of just 1.3 days. This exoplanet is so close to its star that if it got any closer, the star’s gravity would start ripping it apart. It also means that the top of the planet’s atmosphere is heated to a blazing 4,600 degrees Fahrenheit (2,500 Celsius), hot enough to boil some metals. The WASP-121 system is estimated to be about 900 light years from Earth – a long way, but close by galactic standards.

WASP-121b: The Planet With an Atmosphere of Glowing Water (4K 360° view) | At-Bristol Science Centre

Previous research found possible signs of a stratosphere on the exoplanet WASP-33b as well as some other hot Jupiters. The new study presents the best evidence yet because of the signature of hot water molecules that researchers observed for the first time.

“Theoretical models have suggested stratospheres may define a distinct class of ultra-hot planets, with important implications for their atmospheric physics and chemistry,” said Tom Evans, lead author and research fellow at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. “Our observations support this picture.”

To study the stratosphere of WASP-121b, scientists analyzed how different molecules in the atmosphere react to particular wavelengths of light, using Hubble’s capabilities for spectroscopy. Water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere, for example, behaves in predictable ways in response to certain wavelengths of light, depending on the temperature of the water.

Starlight is able to penetrate deep into a planet’s atmosphere, where it raises the temperature of the gas there. This gas then radiates its heat into space as infrared light. However, if there is cooler water vapor at the top of the atmosphere, the water molecules will prevent certain wavelengths of this light from escaping to space. But if the water molecules at the top of the atmosphere have a higher temperature, they will glow at the same wavelengths.

“The emission of light from water means the temperature is increasing with height,” said Tiffany Kataria, study co-author based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. “We’re excited to explore at what longitudes this behavior persists with upcoming Hubble observations.”

The phenomenon is similar to what happens with fireworks, which get their colors from chemicals emitting light. When metallic substances are heated and vaporized, their electrons move into higher energy states. Depending on the material, these electrons will emit light at specific wavelengths as they lose energy: sodium produces orange-yellow and strontium produces red in this process, for example. The water molecules in the atmosphere of WASP-121b similarly give off radiation as they lose energy, but in the form of infrared light, which the human eye is unable to detect.

In Earth’s stratosphere, ozone gas traps ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which raises the temperature of this layer of atmosphere. Other solar system bodies have stratospheres, too; methane is responsible for heating in the stratospheres of Jupiter and Saturn’s moon Titan, for example.

In solar system planets, the change in temperature within a stratosphere is typically around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 56 degrees Celsius). On WASP-121b, the temperature in the stratosphere rises by 1,000 degrees (560 degrees Celsius). Scientists do not yet know what chemicals are causing the temperature increase in WASP-121b’s atmosphere. Vanadium oxide and titanium oxide are candidates, as they are commonly seen in brown dwarfs, “failed stars” that have some commonalities with exoplanets. Such compounds are expected to be present only on the hottest of hot Jupiters, as high temperatures are needed to keep them in a gaseous state.

“This super-hot exoplanet is going to be a benchmark for our atmospheric models, and it will be a great observational target moving into the Webb era,” said Hannah Wakeford, study co-author who worked on this research while at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., in Washington. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about Hubble, visit:

https://nasa.gov/hubble http://hubblesite.org

For more information about exoplanets, visit:

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov

Hubble Detects Exoplanet with Glowing Water Atmosphere Scientists have discovered the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on a planet outside our solar system, or exoplanet.