Observations of the Earth's atmosphere: Introductory remarks

The Earth is surrounded by a layer of relatively thin gas, the mass of which is mainly concentrated in the first kilometres. With an exponential decrease of the density of the atmosphere as a function of altitude, 99.9% of this mass is located in the first 50 km. In addition, the composition of major species is homogeneous up to about 85 km, contrarily to what happens beyond. This is the homosphere. This layer of atmosphere, considered in this special issue, is also that which we breathe and which we unfortunately often pollute. All this justifies considering it as of vital importance, in the most basic sense of the word. However, in studying it, it is not possible to ignore what is happening beyond, from where comes, in particular, solar radiation, just as we cannot ignore what happens below the continents and the oceans, where solar radiation is absorbed, diffused and re-emitted to the top by the Earth's surface as infrared radiation. We must therefore keep in mind what are the layers that surround the homosphere, the importance of observing them and also give some examples of possible interactions which may exist with the surrounding layers; these are the objectives of these introductory remarks. Another general consideration must be made here, concerning the problems, which have existed until the middle of the 20th century, of how to observe the atmosphere in situ at all the altitudes. However, since then, the development of engineering involving balloons, rockets, aircrafts and artificial satellites has revolutionized our knowledge of this observational atmosphere; this is the second message of these remarks.