Name:_____________________________________________________ Period:_____

EARTH SYSTEMS LAB:Stuve Diagram - Graphing Earth’s Atmosphere

Earth’s atmosphere gets thinner as altitude increases, and can be divided into multiple layers based on temperature variations. The first four layers are:

The Troposphere, closest to the Earth is where all weather occurs. Here the temperature gets colder as altitude increases.

The Stratosphere, where the ozone layer is found. The temperature warms up as it the altitude increases.

The Mesosphere, where again the temperature gets colder as the altitude increases. The Thermosphere, where the temperature rises due to interactions with high energy

particles from the Sun.Temperature variations in these first four layers are due to the way solar energy is absorbed as it moves downward through the atmosphere. Between each layer are boundaries, known as the tropopause, the stratopause, and the mesopause, respectively.

DIRECTIONS:1. Table One contains the average temperature readings at various altitudes in the Earth’s

atmosphere. Plot this data on the graph on the worksheet, and connect adjacent points with a smooth line. Be careful to plot the negative temperature numbers correctly.

This profile provides a general picture of temperature at any given time and place; however, the actual temperature may deviate from the average values, particularly in the lower atmosphere.

TABLE ONEAverage Temperature Readings at Various Altitudes

Altitude, km Temperature, °C Altitude, km Temperature, °C0 15 52 -25 -18 55 -710 -49 60 -1712 -56 65 -3320 -56 70 -5425 -51 75 -6530 -46 80 -7935 -37 84 -8640 -22 92 -8645 -8 95 -8148 -2 100 -72

2. Draw lines to represent the top and bottom of each layer of the atmosphere. Label each layer and the boundaries between each layer. You should place eight words on your graph in the correct locations: troposphere, tropopause, stratosphere, stratopause, mesosphere, mesopause, thermosphere and ozone layer.

3. Color each layer and the boundaries between them as shown – you should probably color the “pauses” (in bold below) first:

Troposphere – blue Tropopause – yellow Stratosphere – orange Stratopause – green Mesosphere – purple Mesopause – brownThermosphere – red