1.

Define the following terms:

A. Meteorology: this is the science that deals with motion and phenomena (changes) of
the atmosphere with a view of both forecasting weather and explaining the processes
involved (Ackerman & Knox, 2011).
It can also be defined as a branch of the atmospheric science with major focus on
weather forecasting

B. Climatology: is the study of the atmospheric conditions over a long period of time
(Rohli & Vega, 2017). It includes the study of the different kinds of weather that
occur in a place.

C. Weather: is the mixture of day-to-day conditions of the atmosphere with respect to

humidity, temperature and wind (Ackerman & Knox, 2011).

D. Climate: is the average weather conditions of a place recorded over a very long
period of time approximately 30 years (Rohli & Vega, 2017).

E. Radiative Equilibrium: is the condition where the total thermal radiation entering the
earth’s surface is equal to the total thermal radiation leaving the earth’s surface
(Rose, 2022). It can also be defined as when the flow of incoming solar energy is
balanced by equal flow of the heat to the space

2. Describe the structure of the atmosphere in regards to temperature

The atmosphere can be considered as a series of concentric layers or shells surrounding
the earth (Aboumosallam & Fennell, 2022).
The atmosphere is sub divided in the following layers namely:
 The Troposphere
 The Stratosphere
 The Mesosphere
 The Thermosphere

1
 The structure below shows the layers of the atmosphere

A. The Troposphere
Is the lowest the layer of the atmosphere extending from the earth surface to a height of
10 km. The lowest point is called the friction layer which is about 1.5 km or 2km
The troposphere is characterized with the following:
 Weather occurs in this layer
 Increase in height leads to decrease in temperature
 Clouds are found in this layer
 Mountain peaks are found in this layer

The upper most limit of the troposphere is called the Tropopause (Aboumosallam &
Fennell, 2022).

B. The Stratosphere
Is the layer immediately above the troposphere extending from 10 km to 50 km above the
earth’s surface
It’s known as home to the earth’s ozone layer which protects us from the sun’s harmful
ultraviolent radiation.
The higher you go into the stratosphere, the warmer the temperatures become and wind
blows at very high velocity. The stratosphere is nearly cloud and weather free and the air
is very dry and contains very little vapour (Aboumosallam & Fennell, 2022).
 The upper limit of the Stratosphere is the Stratopause
C. The Mesosphere
Is the layer above the stratosphere ranging from 50 km to 80 km above the earth surface.
In this layer increase in altitude leads to decrease in temperature. The highest limit of the
mesosphere is called the mesopause (Erickson, 2019).
D. The Thermosphere
This layer lies above the Mesopause and has no defined upper limit. It ranges from 80km
and above. The thermosphere is located above the mesosphere and below the exosphere
(Kirsten, 2019). The temperature increases with altitude.

3. Explain the various weather elements and attributed instruments for their
measurement

The following are the important elements of weather and the instruments for
measurement.
A. Temperature. This is the measure of the degree of hotness and coldness of a place and it’s
measured in degrees Celsius by use of a thermometer (Zamboni, 2018).
Diagram of a thermometer

B. Rainfall. This is the amount of water falling from the atmosphere within a given time and
specific area. it is measured in millimeters by use of rain gauge (Gires, 2018).
C. Wind Velocity: this is the speed and strength at which wind moves. It is measured in
meters per second (m/s) by use of anemometer (Goodman, 2023).

D. Wind direction: This refers to the direction from which the wind originates from. Its
measured in degrees by use of the wind vane

E. Humidity: This the concentrations of water vapour in the atmosphere. It’s measured in
grams cubic meter (gm3). Its measured by the use of a hygrometer
F. Sunshine: this refers to the warmth and light given by the suns’ rays and its measured in
watts per meter squared ( W/m2) by use of a pyrheliometer

G. Thunder: This is the sound caused by lightning and measured in meters using Air borne
optical pulse sensor

H. Lightning: this an electrical discharge caused by imbalances between storm clouds and
the ground or within the clouds themselves and it’s measured on micro meter using the
Air borne optical pulse sensor
 I. Snow: This water that has frozen solid usually white in colour and measured using snow
gauge

References
Ackerman, S., & Knox, J. (2011). Meteorology. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Erickson, K. (2019, June 28). Mesosphere. Retrieved from Nasa.gov:

https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/

Gires, A. (2018, August 2018). How Do We Measure Rainfall? Retrieved from Fronteirs:
https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2018.00038

Goodman, D. (2023, January 11). What is Wind Speed? Retrieved from All the Science:
https://www.allthescience.org/what-is-wind-speed.htm

Kirsten. (2019, June 28). What is the thermosphere? Retrieved from Nasa.gov:
https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/thermosphere/en/

Ranaa Aboumosallam Arafat, J. F. (2022, November 05). Atmosphere Layers and

Characteristics | What is Atmosphere? Retrieved from Study.com:
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-atmosphere-layers-gases-pressure.html

Rohli, R. V., & Vega, A. J. (2017). Climatology. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Rose, B. E. (2022). The Climate Laboratory: A hands-on approach to climate physics and
climate modeling. Retrieved from brian-rose.github.io:
https://brian-rose.github.io/ClimateLaboratoryBook/courseware/radeq.html
Zamboni, J. (2018, April 26). The Four Types of Temperature Scales. Retrieved from Sciencing:
https://sciencing.com/four-types-temperature-scales-7472070.html