Page 38 - Beginner's Guide to Aviation
P. 38
THE ATMOSPHERE AND ALTIMETRY
Did you know that the atmosphere surrounding Earth is made up of many different layers of gas and is retained by
gravity? And flight only occurs at certain layers and pilots make use of different pressure datums during different phases of flight? Let’s find out more!
THE ATMOSPHERE
These are the different atmospheric layers that surround Earth. The layers all have unique names as well as different upper and lower boundaries.
Boundaries:
10,000km 500- 1000km 640km
80-85km 50km 8km 7km
Names:
Exosphere
Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere
Troposphere
Ionosphere
EARTH’S SURFACE
Here we have a visual representation of the different atmospheric layers and rough upper and lower boundaries from Earth’s surface to space. Let’s go into more details about the different atmospheric layers individually.
31
