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1. Vertical structure of the atmosphere Introduction to Meteorology
Leila Carvalho
2. Where is the upper boundary of the atmosphere?
3. Well There is no definite answer to this question. What happens is that air becomes thinner at higher altitudes.
At an altitude of 16 km (10mi) the density of the air is only about 10% of that at the sea level and at 50km is only about 1% of that at the sea level
At 100km (60mi) 99.99997 % of the atmosphere is below this height
Most of the action or the weather that affects surface occurs below ~ 12km, the region we call troposphere ( Greek "tropos" for "turning" or "mixing)
4. How can we explain these differences in density ? Answer: GRAVITY FORCE!