Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Relationship of the atmosphere and ionosphere. The ionosphere (/ aɪ ˈ ɒ n ə ˌ s f ɪər /) [1] [2] is the ionized part of the upper atmosphere of Earth, from about 48 km (30 mi) to 965 km (600 mi) above sea level, [3] a region that includes the thermosphere and parts of the mesosphere and exosphere. The ionosphere is ionized by solar ...
The ionosphere is a region of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. It is responsible for auroras. During daytime hours, it stretches from 50 to 1,000 km (31 to 621 mi; 160,000 to 3,280,000 ft) and includes the mesosphere, thermosphere, and parts of the exosphere.
The Sun does not support long-term radiation belts, as it lacks a stable, global dipole field. The Earth's atmosphere limits the belts' particles to regions above 200–1,000 km, [ 11 ] (124–620 miles) while the belts do not extend past 8 Earth radii R E . [ 11 ]
In plasma physics terms, it is the cavity formed by the Sun in the surrounding interstellar medium. The "bubble" of the heliosphere is continuously "inflated" by plasma originating from the Sun, known as the solar wind. Outside the heliosphere, this solar plasma gives way to the interstellar plasma permeating the Milky Way.
In the height region between about 85 and 200 km altitude on Earth, the ionospheric plasma is electrically conducting. Atmospheric tidal winds due to differential solar heating or due to gravitational lunar forcing move the ionospheric plasma against the geomagnetic field lines thus generating electric fields and currents just like a dynamo coil moving against magnetic field lines.
The radiation emitted by solar wind only reaches the highest layers of the Earth's atmosphere, including the ionosphere. There are however reports of a possible impact on lower layers of the atmosphere. It is recorded that the increase of solar wind during March 2012 in the United States coincided with the heat waves that occurred at the time. [29]
The ionosphere, an ionized portion of the upper atmosphere which includes the upper mesosphere, thermosphere, and lower exosphere and on Earth lies between the altitudes of 48 and 965 kilometres (30 and 600 mi)
ISAB is only a factor in the period of the day where radio signals travel through the portion of the ionosphere facing the Sun. The solar wind and radiation cause the ionosphere to become charged with electrons in the first place. At night, the atmosphere becomes drained of its charge, and radio signals can go much farther with less loss of signal.