Condensed parts of Earth's atmosphere

[snorkack]

How much of Earth atmosphere consists of condensed phases?
What is the breakdown of these condensed phases between those that condense in atmosphere (water) and those that do not (rock)?

The total amount of water in Earth atmosphere is quoted as a 25 mm layer on average - total of about 13 000 km³. But this is total water, including vapour. What is the total amount of condensed water in atmosphere? How much of it is liquid, how much solid?

 

[BillTre]

So you want to know much water is suspended in the atmosphere as clouds, precipitation, ocean spray, etc.?

 

[snorkack]

So you want to know much water is suspended in the atmosphere as clouds, precipitation, ocean spray, etc.?

Yes. The breakdown of stuff suspended in atmosphere - the condensed water in clouds (liquid and solid, as distinct from water vapour in the air between the cloud droplets or snowflakes) and rock - that is, total amount of dust in the whole atmosphere in the same time.

 

[BillTre]

Not all dust will be rock.
Some will be of organic or industrial origin.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Some particulates from a NOAA blurb:
Water ice, PAN particles from auto exhaust, sea salt, rockdust, soot, VOG (Volcano sources), Carbon Dioxide ice, plant and fungal spores, Sulfur oxides. Dust plumes from bean and wheat processing, and copper & coal mining. The dust movement from the Sahara desert to Central and South America effectively moves soil nutrients across the Atlantic ocean, for example.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/...plume-slams-u-s-kicking-up-climate-questions/

This is a partial list. It will take some work searching for data on one of these topics, let alone all of them.

What are you working on? NOAA has down loadable data sets so you can sort out this mess into what you need. Probably.

 

[Baluncore]

The atmosphere near clouds usually contain the same mass of water as the air with clouds. It is just that the clouds are parcels of slightly cooler or lower pressure atmosphere, so the water condenses and becomes visible. When the air contains too much condensate to be suspended it rains, which regulates the water content. That rain may carry the water down to where it is warmer, so the water may dissolve again, but into a different parcel of air. Dust particles and ions in the atmosphere are transported with the water while it is in the form of a condensate or rain.