A) COMPOSITION, EXTENT, VERTICAL DIVISION

B) TEMPERATURE

- VERTICAL DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE - TRANSFER OF HEAT: SOLAR AND

TERRESTRIAL RADIATION, CONDUCTION, CONVECTION, ADVECTION AND
TURBULENCE - LAPSE RATE, STABILITY AND INSTABILITY - DEVELOPMENT
OF INVERSIONS, TYPES OF INVERSIONS - TEMPERATURE NEAR THE EARTH’S
SURFACE, SURFACE EFFECTS, DIURNAL - VARIATION, EFFECT OF CLOUDS,
EFFECT OF WIND

C) ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

- BAROMETRIC PRESSURE, ISOBARS - PRESSURE VARIATION WITH HEIGHT,

CONTOURS (ISOHYPSES) - REDUCTION OF PRESSURE TO MEAN SEA LEVEL, QFF
- SURFACE LOW/UPPER-AIR LOW, SURFACE HIGH/UPPER-AIR
HIGHPRECIPITATION

D) ATMOSPHERIC DENSITY : INTERRELATIONSHIP OF PRESSURE, TEMPERATURE

AND DENSITY E) INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ATMOSPHERE (ISA)

F) ALTIMETRY

- PRESSURE ALTITUDE, TRUE ALTITUDE - HEIGHT, ALTITUDE, FLIGHT LEVEL -

ALTIMETER SETTINGS: QNH, QFE, 1013.25 HPA - EFFECT OF ACCELERATED
AIRFLOW DUE TO TOPOGRAPHY
ATMOSPHERE –
80% WITHIN 16 KM – GETS THINNER
THEREAFTER
CHARACTERISTICS –
HAS WT, EXERTS PR, COMPRESSIBLE,
EXPANDABLE, POOR COND OF HEAT AND
ELECTRICITY. 78% N2, 21% O2
HAS WATER VAPOUR AND SOLID
PARTICLES
N2 : O2 :: 4:1 BY VOL 3:1 BY WT
SUPPLEMENTARY O2 NEEDED ABOVE 10,000’
HOMODPHERE UPTO 80 KM, ABOVE THAT
HETROSPHERE
GREENHOUSE GASES ARE CO2,
O2,METHANE – PARTIALLY ABSORB
SOLAR (LONG WAVE) RADIATION AND
RERADIATE IT.
WARMER AIR CAN HOLD MORE WV
IN TROPICS, AIR CAN HOLD UPTO 4% WV BY
VOL – THIS WILL BE SATURATED AND
HAS 100% RH. RH <100% IS UNSATURATED
WV NEGLIGIBLE AT POLES AND ABOVE
30,000’
OZONE O3 – FORMS IN UPPER ATMOSPHERE
ABSORBS UV RADIATION & RAISES TEMP
PROTECTS FROM ILL EFFECTS OS UV RAD –
SKIN CANCER, SUNBURN, CATARACTS ETC
MAX CONC 20-25 KM
O3 HOLES

VERT DISTRIBUTn
BELOW 6 KM ½
10 KM ¾
35 KM 99%
TEMP FALLS WITH HT
HEATED FROM BELOW
SENSIBLE HEAT – COND,
CONV, RADIATn – 23%
LATENT HEAT –
EVAPORATn,
CONDENSATn,
SUBLIMATn – 77%
TROPOS – TURNING
LAPSE RATE (6.5 DEG/KM) AND INVERSION
16-18 KM ABOVE EQ AND 8-10 ABOVE POLES
WARMER THE SURFACE, HIGHER THE HT OF
TROPOPAUSE
GENERALLY UNSTABLE
HAS MOST WEATHER AND MOST FLYING
75% MASS OF AIR AND 99% WV LIES HERE
TROPOPAUSE – LAPSE RATE 1-2 DEG OR
LOWER
LOWER IN WINTER, HIGHER IN SUMMER
REVERSAL OF TEMP AND DENSITY ABOVE 8 KM
THIS IS BECAUSE POLES START WARMING AND
BECOME WARMER THAN EQ
TWO REGIONS WHERE TROPOPAUSE ABRUPTLY
CHANGES HT ARE AT 40 AND 60 DEG LAT
BREAK AT 40 DEG IS MORE PROMINENT
JET STREAMS OCCUR AT THESE BREAKS
THESE BREAKS BROADLY DIVIDE TROPOPAUSE
IN 3 SECTIONS
POLAR T’PAUSE – 40-60 LAT & ABOVE, 300HPA
TROPICAL T’PAUSE – UPTO 35-40 LAT, 100 HPA
MIDDLE – 200 HPA – BETWEEN POLAR AND
TROPICAL
T’PAUSE – MAX HT CLOUDS MAY REACH
JETSTREAMS, MAX WIND SPEEDS AND CAT OCCUR
JUST BELOW IT.
STRATOSPHERE – UPTO 50KM. INITIALLY ISOTHERMAL,
THEN INVERSION DUE TO ABSORPTION OF UV
RADIATn FROM SUN BY O3
S’PAUSE – UPPER BOUNDARY OF S’SPHERE
MESOSPHERE – UPTO 80 KM. TEMP FALLS.
M’PAUSE – TEMP STOP FALLING. LOWEST TEMP -90 TO -
100 DEG C OCCUR HERE
THERMOSPHERE – EXTENDS TILL END OF ATMOSPHERE.
ABOVE 700 KM IT IS CALLED EXOSPHERE.
IONOSPHERE – IMP FOR RADIO WAVE PROPAGATn.
DISTURBANCES IN RADIO PROP DUE TO SOLAR
ACTIVITIES.
ISA ATMOSPHERE – SEE BOOK
STATIC PR OR BAROMETRIC PR – UIFORM IN
ALL DIRECTn
DYNAMIC PR OR WIND PR – DUE TO
MOTION
PR AS WT OF THE AIR ABOVE
101.25hPa = 760mm = 29.92 in

MSL 2,000’ 20,000’ 40,000’

27’ 30’ 50’ 100’
OR APPROX UPTO 20,000, 1 hPa = 30’
COLD AIR MORE DENSE : AIR PR WILL FALL AT
A FASTER RATE THAN WARM AIR.
THEREFOR, PR AT ANY GIVEN HT WILL BE
HIGHER OVER WARM AIR.
ISOBARS DIP GOING FROM HI TO LO & VICE
VERSA
SEMI DIURNAL VARIATn – MIN 0400/1600, MAX
1000/2200.
SMALL VAR AT POLES AND 3-5 hPa VAR AT EQ
MEASUREMENT – MERCURY AND ANEROID
BARO
ALTI CORRECTION (ALTICOR) = IND - TRUE ALT
PRESSURE
ADD 30’ FOR 1hPa WHEN MSL PR HIGHER
TEMP
ADD 1% OF IND ALT FOR EVERY 3 DEG
HIGHER THAN ISA
ADD THESE ALGEBRAICALLY TO GET FINAL
CORRECTION
CONTOUR – EQUAL HT OR SAME hPa
HT INTERVAL BETWEEN LOWER AND UPPER
LEVEL IS CALLED THICKNESS.
LOW THICKNESS = LOW MEAN TEMP OF THE
LAYER
ISOPLETHS OF THICKNESS COINCIDE WITH
ISOTHERMS OF MEAN TEMP OF LAYER
ISOBAR – EQUAL PRESSURE
ISALLOBAR – PLACES OF EQUAL PR CHANGE

Isopleth
A broad term for any line on a weather map
connecting points with equal values of a particular
atmospheric variable (temperature, dew point,
etc.). Isotherms, isotachs, etc. are all examples of
isopleths.
DEFINITIONS
MSL
ALTITUDE
HEIGHT
ELEVATION
TRANSITION ALT/LEVEL/LAYER
FLIGHT LEVEL
PR ALT
PR SETTING AND CORRECTION
QFE, QNH, QNE, QFF, REGIONAL QNH
 HOTTER THAN ISA QFE < QNH
AT MSL QFE = QNH
PR SET ON ALTI < QNH; IND ALT < TRUE ALT

LEVEL 850 700 500 400 300 200 100

hPa
PA 5,000 10 18 24 30 38 53,000
FL 50 100 180 240 300 380 530

HI LO HI
LO HI LO
WINDS FROM PORT – ALTI UNDER READS
BUY BALLOT’S LAW – Nn HEMISPHERE,
BACK TOWARDS WINDS, LP TO LEFT. OPP
FOR Sn HEMISPHERE.
LOW – 2 OR MORE CLOSED ISOBARS AT 2 hPa
INTERAL IS DEPRESSION. MORE INTENSE
SYS IS CYCLONE OR SEVERE CYCLONE.
WINDS AROUND LOW ARE ANTI-CLOCK
CONVERGING TOWARDS CENTRE (Nn HS)
ASSOCIATED WITH BAD WX, GOOD VIS.
WINDS BACK.
TROUGH OF LOW – TONGUE LIKE
EXTENSION, PR ALONG TROUGH IS
LOWER THAN EITHER SIDE. ARE V
SHAPED. WINDS CHANGE ABRUPTLY.
HIGH
FAIR WX
POOR VIS
WINDS CLOCKWISE, VEER, DIVERGE (Nn)
ALSO CALLED ANTI-CYCLONES
RIDGE – EXTENSION OF ISOBARS FROM HP.
NOT V SHAPED AS FOR A TROUGH.
COL – BETWEEN 2 HIGHS AND 2 LOWS
ISOBARS TOWARDS HP ARE 2 hPa HIGHER
THAN THOSE TOWARDS LOW
WX IS A MIX OF HI AND LO
WINDS LIGHT AND VARIABLE