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The stratosphere is the second-lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. It lies above the troposphere and is separated from it by the tropopause. This layer extends from the top of the troposphere at roughly 12 km (7.5 mi; 39,000 ft) above Earth's surface to the stratopause at an altitude of about 50 to 55 km (31 to 34 mi; 164,000 to 180,000 ft).
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. This extends from the planetary surface to the bottom of the stratosphere. The troposphere contains 75–80% of the mass of the atmosphere, [9] and is the atmospheric layer wherein the weather occurs; the height of the troposphere varies between 17 km at the equator and 7.0 km at the poles.
The layers of Earth's atmosphere with the Kármán line indicated (not to scale) [9] The FAI uses the term Kármán line to define the boundary between aeronautics and astronautics: [6] Aeronautics: For FAI purposes, aerial activity, including all air sports, within 100 km of Earth's surface.
Diagram showing the five primary layers of the Earth's atmosphere: exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. The layers are not to scale. The stratosphere (/ ˈ s t r æ t ə ˌ s f ɪər,-t oʊ-/) is the second-lowest layer of the atmosphere of Earth, located above the troposphere and below the mesosphere.
The layer has the largest concentration of nitrogen. The atmosphere of the Earth is in five layers: (i) the exosphere at 600+ km; (ii) the thermosphere at 600 km; (iii) the mesosphere at 95–120 km; (iv) the stratosphere at 50–60 km; and (v) the troposphere at 8–15 km.
The atmosphere envelops the earth and extends hundreds of kilometres from the surface. It consists mostly of inert nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%) and argon (0.9%). [4] Some trace gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapour and carbon dioxide, are the gases most important for the workings of the climate system, as they are greenhouse gases which allow visible light from the Sun to penetrate to ...
As a result, it is the least-understood part of the atmosphere, resulting in the humorous moniker ignorosphere. [20] [21] The presence of red sprites and blue jets (electrical discharges or lightning within the lower mesosphere), noctilucent clouds, and density shears within this poorly understood layer are of current scientific interest.
The layers are to scale. From the Earth's surface to the top of the stratosphere (50km) is just under 1% of Earth's radius. The exosphere is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the density is so low that the molecules are essentially collision ...