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Temperature varies greatly at different heights relative to the surface of the Earth; it is this variation which characterizes the four layers that exist in the atmosphere. These layers are the troposphere , stratosphere , mesosphere , and thermosphere .
Temperatures drop with increasing altitude to the mesopause that marks the top of this middle layer of the atmosphere. It is the coldest place on Earth and has an average temperature around −85 °C (−120 °F; 190 K). [22] [23]
The thermosphere (or the upper atmosphere) is the height region above 85 kilometres (53 mi), while the region between the tropopause and the mesopause is the middle atmosphere (stratosphere and mesosphere) where absorption of solar UV radiation generates the temperature maximum near an altitude of 45 kilometres (28 mi) and causes the ozone layer.
The U.S. Standard Atmosphere is a set of models that define values for atmospheric temperature, density, pressure and other properties over a wide range of altitudes. The first model, based on an existing international standard, was published in 1958 by the U.S. Committee on Extension to the Standard Atmosphere, [ 9 ] and was updated in 1962 ...
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.
Usually, within the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) the air near the surface of the Earth is warmer than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below as solar radiation warms the Earth's surface, which in turn then warms the layer of the atmosphere directly above it, e.g., by thermals (convective heat transfer). [3]
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of layers with different properties, such as specific gaseous composition, temperature, and pressure. The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. This extends from the planetary surface to the bottom of the stratosphere.
As such, because the tropopause is an inversion layer in which air-temperature increases with altitude, the temperature of the tropopause remains constant. [2] 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;