Short answers, pulled from the story.
Atmospheric science is the study of the Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. It includes meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, climatology, and aeronomy, and it has been extended to the atmospheres of other planets and natural satellites of the Solar System.
Experimental instruments used in atmospheric science include satellites, rocketsondes, radiosondes, weather balloons, radars, and lasers. Satellite-based observation drives much recent work, including the CALIPSO mission engineered by NASA and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales.
Early pioneers in the field of atmospheric science include Léon Teisserenc de Bort and Richard Assmann.
Meteorology studies short-term weather systems lasting up to a few weeks, while climatology studies the frequency and trends of those systems over timescales ranging from years to millennia. Climatology draws on meteorology, oceanography, geology, biology, and astronomy to study climate and its long-term variability.
Atmospheric chemistry helps explain the concentration of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and traces emissions back to their sources. According to UNEP, emissions reached a record of 57.1 GtCO2e, and cuts of nearly 42 percent are needed by 2030 to reverse human-driven damage.
Atmospheric science extends to the atmospheres of the planets and natural satellites of the Solar System, where gravity determines which gases a body retains. It examines weather systems such as planet-wide dust storms on Mars, the Great Red Spot anticyclone on Jupiter, and atmospheric holes on Neptune, along with the extrasolar planet HD 189733 b.