Test Your Knowledge of the Earth's Atmospheric Layers

Characteristics and Phenomenon of Each Layer of the Atmosphere

• The troposphere is the layer closest to the Earth's surface, where temperature decreases as altitude increases.
• The troposphere is the most dense layer and extends from 8 to 14 km above sea level, where weather phenomenon and clouds occur.
• The stratosphere extends up to 50 km and contains the ozone layer, which absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun and causes the temperature to increase gradually.
• Commercial passenger jet planes fly in the lower region of the stratosphere for a smoother ride, and the jet stream flows near the border between the stratosphere and troposphere.
• The mesosphere extends up to 85 km, where the temperature decreases with height until the coldest temperature (-90°C) anywhere in the atmosphere occurs at the mesopause.
• Meteors burn up in the mesosphere, and the air in this layer is too thin to breathe.
• The thermosphere extends up to 600 km, where temperature rises extremely high with height due to the absorption of high-energy X-rays and UV radiation from the sun.
• Satellites orbit in the thermosphere, and auroras occur in this layer.
• Instead of considering temperature, satellites in the thermosphere measure the amount of solar radiation absorbed.
• The ionosphere overlaps the mesosphere and thermosphere and is an abundant layer of electrons and ionized atoms and molecules.
• The ionosphere has three main regions (D, E, and F layers) that vary during the course of the day and from season to season, and reflect standard AM radio waves back to Earth.
• The exosphere is the upper limit of our atmosphere and extends from the top of the thermosphere up to 10,000 km, where there is no clear-cut upper boundary where it fades away into space.