The tropopause it is an intermediate transition zone between two layers of the Earth's atmosphere. It is located between the lower layer of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, and the layer above it, the stratosphere..
The Earth's atmosphere has been divided into several layers. These layers are called "spheres" and the transition zones between the layers are called "pauses." According to its chemical composition and temperature variation, the layers of the atmosphere are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere..
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The tropopause is a region with very particular characteristics that have recently motivated its scientific study in greater detail. Being the zone of transition of properties between the troposphere and the stratosphere, it is opportune to briefly indicate the characteristics of these two layers.
The troposphere is the active layer where the meteorological phenomena that originate the climate occur, such as winds, rains, electrical storms and hurricanes. The temperature in this layer decreases with altitude.
In the stratosphere, temperature increases with altitude due to the effect of chemical reactions that give off heat (exothermic). Ozone is mainly involved, which absorbs high-energy ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
The tropopause is the boundary between these two gaseous layers that have very different temperature, chemical composition and general dynamic properties. The characteristics of the tropopause are briefly listed below..
The height at which the tropopause is located above the Earth's surface is variable. Changes with latitude, season, and time of day.
The tropopause is located at an average height of 7 to 10 km in the regions of the Earth's poles, and between 16 to 18 km high in the areas of the tropics, around the equator..
In this way, the polar tropopause is warmer and is closer to the earth's surface, while the equatorial-tropical tropopause is cooler and is higher..
At the equator, the Sun's rays strike the Earth's surface perpendicularly, causing great surface warming. This heat from the earth's surface is absorbed by the air of the troposphere, which expands in this equatorial-tropical zone and increases the distance to the tropopause..
Through various scientific studies it has been determined that the global height of the tropopause has increased in recent years. It is believed that this increase could be due to the increase in greenhouse gases (GHG), the decrease in the ozone layer of the stratosphere, and the cooling of this layer.
Changes in the height of the tropopause are evidence of warming of the troposphere, called global warming.
The tropopause constitutes a zone of relative calm, since the meteorological phenomena that originate the climate occur below this zone, in the troposphere. However, recent studies report that the tropopause presents a particular dynamic.
In the tropopause zone the temperature remains constant, it does not decrease with height (as in the troposphere) nor does it increase with height (as in the stratosphere). The tropopause temperature is about -55°C.
The tropopause is not a continuous zone; there are breaks in this region in the areas of tropical latitudes and mid-latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres of the Earth.
The tropopause acts as a large reservoir for moisture in the troposphere, and has the function of transporting water vapor into the stratosphere..
The tropopause is the region where cirrus-like clouds form, a type of tall, white cloud composed of ice crystals. They are shaped like filaments in narrow, fine bands, similar to hair curls.
Cirrus clouds reflect sunlight and trap the heat that the Earth emits to the outside. It is not known exactly if the net balance of cirrus clouds is cooling or warming of the planet.
The appearance of cirrus clouds indicates a change in weather with low temperatures and rain within the next 24 hours.
The tropopause represents a zone of abrupt change between the chemical composition of the troposphere and that of the stratosphere. Contains gases that come from both layers.
In the tropopause there are gases from the troposphere, such as water vapor and carbon monoxide (CO). There is also ozone (O3), gas that comes from the stratosphere.
Very interesting chemical reactions occur in the tropopause. Scientists are trying to study these chemical changes to get a more complete explanation of the phenomenon of global warming..
To study the tropopause, samples of its gas mixture must be taken. This sampling at altitudes of up to 18 km above the earth's surface presents many difficulties.
Only a few aircraft can reach these heights. NASA has three very sophisticated aircraft equipped with special equipment to carry out these studies. These are the ER-2, DC-8 and WB-57 aircraft.
These three aircraft, coupled to a support infrastructure with satellites and radars, detection equipment in situ and remote sensing, fulfill the so-called TC4 mission for its acronym of English: Tropical Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling Experiment.
The tropopause has important functions in transporting water vapor from the troposphere to the stratosphere. It also functions as a zone for mixing gases of tropospheric origin (water vapor, carbon monoxide) with gases from the stratosphere (ozone)..
Recently, the tropopause is being studied as an indicator of global warming of the planet and of phenomena that determine general atmospheric chemistry..
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