What is meteorology and how does the atmosphere work?

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of Earth's atmosphere with the primary focus on understanding, explaining, and forecasting weather events. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere and are driven by differences in air pressure, temperature, and moisture. The field encompasses diverse sub-disciplines including atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, and climatology.

What we know

• Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere focused on understanding, explaining, and forecasting weather events. [2]
• On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, known as the troposphere. [4]
• Weather is driven by differences in air pressure, temperature, and moisture between different locations. [4]
• Meteorology is applied in diverse fields including the military, energy production, transport, agriculture, and construction. [2]

Where to go next

• compared withHow does weather differ from climate?
• what caused itWhat causes the jet stream and atmospheric circulations?
• how it workedHow do scientists forecast the weather?
• whenWhat are the major milestones in the history of meteorology?
• the bigger pictureWhat is the structure of Earth's atmosphere?
• an unexpected connectionHow does Jupiter's Great Red Spot relate to Earth's weather?Studying weather phenomena on other planets like Jupiter helps scientists better understand how weather systems work on Earth.

Sources

• [1]outline of meteorology (Wikidata Q7112683) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Outline of meteorology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Glossary of meteorology · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Weather · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Timeline of meteorology · CC BY-SA 4.0