Hey Ray: The layers of the atmosphere
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - I like to think of the atmosphere as sort of a big sandwich since the atmosphere isn't just one layer. It has many distinct layers from the ground all the way into space.
This means the ground and space are the bread slices of our atmospheric sandwich.
Just above the ground is where we start the lowest layer of the atmosphere. We call this layer the troposphere. According to the National Weather Service, the troposphere is 11 to 12 miles high at the equator, and just under four miles high at the poles.
This is where we live and experience all of our weather. As you climb higher into the troposphere, the temperatures get colder because the density of the gasses that compose this layer gets thinner.
At the top of the troposphere, there is a transition to the next layer called the tropopause.
The tropopause transitions to the next layer called the stratosphere. This layer extends up to about 31 miles above the Earth's surface.
The National Weather Service says this layer holds 19-percent of the atmosphere's gasses, but little water vapor. Temperatures in this layer actually warm up as you increase in altitude because Heat is produced while ozone is produced.
At the top of this layer, there is another transition zone called the stratopause.
From here, we find the mesosphere.
The mesosphere extends from the top of the stratosphere to around 50 miles above the Earth's surface. Temperatures return to cooling with altitude in this layer, and the mesosphere is usually where you see meteors burning up because the gasses in this layer are quite dense. This is the least explored region of the atmosphere because it is too high for weather balloons, but too low for the lowest orbiting satellites.
There is another transition layer at the top of the mesosphere called the mesopause.
This transitions to the thermosphere.
This is another layer that warms with altitude because of the high amounts of energy this layer gets from the Sun. This is the layer where the Northern Lights occur. The Space Shuttles and the International Space Station also orbit Earth in the thermosphere.
Yep, the Space Station is still in our atmosphere!
The thermosphere extends from the top of the mesosphere to 375 miles above Earth's surface. From there there is another transition layer called the thermopause.
This is where we hit to get to the last layer.
It is called the exosphere. This extends from the top of the thermosphere to about 6,200 miles above the Earth's surface.
This is the layer where satellites orbit Earth.
It is also where molecules escape into outer space, the top slice of bread of our "atmospheric sandwich."