What Is the Upper Atmosphere?

The atmosphere (atmosphere) is a term for meteorology. It is a layer of mixed gas that surrounds the earth due to gravity. It is the outermost layer of the earth's atmosphere. It surrounds the ocean and land. But there are no clear boundaries. ^[1]

The atmosphere is also called the atmosphere. It is a layer of mixed gas that surrounds the earth due to gravity. It is the outermost gas circle on the earth, which surrounds it.

The main components of the atmosphere are

The entire atmosphere exhibits different characteristics with different heights, and is divided into troposphere, stratosphere, ozone layer, mesosphere, thermal layer and diffuse layer, and above it is interstellar space.

Atmosphere troposphere

1.Definition

The troposphere is located in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, and it stretches from the surface of the earth to the upper air and reaches the top of the troposphere, which is the starting point of the stratosphere. The average thickness is about 12 kilometers. It varies in thickness. Its thickness is 8 kilometers above the Earth's poles and 17 kilometers above the equator. It is the densest layer in the atmosphere, which concentrates about 75% of the atmospheric mass and 90%. Above water vapor quality. Its lower boundary is connected to the ground, and the height of the upper boundary varies with geographic latitude and season. Its height varies with latitude, with an average height of 17 to 18 kilometers in low latitudes, 10 to 12 kilometers in mid-latitudes, and 8 to 9 kilometers in high latitudes, and it is higher in summer than in winter.

2. Features:

(1) The temperature decreases with increasing altitude: This layer cannot absorb the short-wave radiation of the sun directly, but can absorb the long-wave radiation reflected from the ground and heat the atmosphere from the underlying surface. Therefore, the air near the ground receives more heat and the air far from the ground receives less heat. For every 1 km increase, the temperature drops by about 6.5 degrees.

(2) Air convection: Because the surfaces of the lithosphere and hydrosphere are sun-heated, and the heat radiates the lower air, the hot and cold air convects vertically, and because the ground is divided into sea and land, day and night, and latitude The temperature is different in different regions, which results in the horizontal movement of air.

(3) The horizontal distribution of various elements such as temperature and humidity is uneven: the atmosphere is in contact with the ground, water vapor, dust, microorganisms, and toxic substances generated by human activities enter the air layer, so in this layer, in addition to the vertical and horizontal movement of airflow, The process is very active, and with the cooling or heating of the air mass, water vapor forms a series of weather phenomena such as rain, snow, hail, frost, dew, clouds, and fog.

Atmosphere stratosphere

1.Definition

The atmosphere at a distance of about 10 to 50 kilometers from the surface. Located above the troposphere and below the diffuse layer. The stratosphere, also known as the stratosphere, is a layer that is heated up and down in the earth's atmosphere. This layer is divided into different temperature layers, with the high-temperature layer on the top and the low-temperature layer on the bottom.

2. Features

It is just the opposite of the troposphere, which is located close to the surface below it. The troposphere is cold and hot. In the mid-latitudes, the stratosphere is located at an altitude of 10 to 50 kilometers from the surface, while in the polar regions, this layer starts at about 8 kilometers from the surface. Above the troposphere, up to 50 kilometers above sea level, the air current mainly appears in the horizontal direction and the convection phenomenon weakens. This atmosphere is called the "stratosphere", also known as the "stratosphere". It is basically free of water vapor, clear and cloudless, and rarely changes in weather. It is suitable for aircraft navigation. At a height of 20 to 30 kilometers, oxygen molecules form an ozone layer under the action of ultraviolet rays, like a barrier to protect the living organisms on the earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays and high-energy particles.

Middle layer of the atmosphere

1.Definition

The middle layer is also called the middle layer. The atmosphere from the top of the stratosphere to 85 kilometers.

2. Features

Due to the low ozone content in this layer, the short-wave solar radiation that can be directly absorbed by nitrogen and oxygen has been mostly absorbed by the upper atmosphere, so the temperature vertical decline rate is large, and the convection movement is strong. The temperature near the top of the middle layer is about 190K; air molecules can ionize after absorbing solar ultraviolet radiation, which is conventionally called the D layer of the ionosphere; sometimes luminous clouds appear at dusk in summer in high latitudes.

Atmospheric ionosphere

1. Definition The ionosphere is an ionized region of the earth's atmosphere. The entire earth's atmosphere over 60 kilometers is in a partially ionized or completely ionized state. The ionosphere is a partially ionized atmospheric area. The fully ionized atmospheric area is called the magnetic layer. Some people also call the entire ionized atmosphere the ionosphere, so the magnetic layer is regarded as a part of the ionosphere. About 10 to 80 kilometers from the surface of the earth. The dissipation layer is above the warm layer and consists of charged particles.

2. Features

Apart from Earth, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter all have ionosphere. The ionosphere extends from about 50 kilometers above the ground to the high-level atmosphere of the earth's upper atmosphere. There are quite a lot of free electrons and ions, which can change the propagation speed of radio waves, cause refraction, reflection and scattering, and generate polarization. The rotation of the surface is absorbed to varying degrees.

Outer atmosphere

1. Define the outer layer (Exosphere), also known as the dissipative layer. Above the top of the thermal layer is the outer atmosphere, which extends to a distance of 1,000 kilometers from the earth's surface. The temperature here is very high, reaching thousands of degrees; the atmosphere is extremely thin, with a density of one billionth of a billion at sea level.

2. Features

The outer atmosphere is also called the magnetosphere. It is the outermost layer of the atmosphere. It is the area where the atmosphere transitions to interstellar space. There is no obvious boundary outside. Under normal circumstances, the upper limit is lower near the geomagnetic poles, and the near magnetic equator is on the side facing the sun, which is about 9 to 10 Earth radii high, in other words, about 65,000 kilometers high. The air is extremely thin here. Usually within 1,000 kilometers, that is, within the ionosphere, is the height of the atmosphere, that is, the atmosphere is 1,000 kilometers thick. ^[1-2]