Abstract
IT has been clearly recognised that the force of gravity acting on the atmosphere of the earth will cause the heavier gases to settle downward by diffusion and the lighter gases to rise to the higher altitude, and that winds, if they exist, would by convection keep the composition of the air uniform at all elevations. The classical ideas of atmospheric pressures (for example, Humphreys, Jeans, Chapman, and Mime, etc.) have been based on the assumption that convection is negligible, at least above a 50 km. level, and that diffusion is the important factor in determining the partial pressures of the gases. In this note are presented some conclusions, to be published in detail later, which have resulted from taking into account convection and diurnal temperature variations in the high atmosphere.
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MARIS, H. A Theory of the Upper Atmosphere and Meteors. Nature 120, 839 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120839a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/120839a0
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