Stratosphere

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Stratosphere

The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere

The Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by the Earth's gravity. Dry air contains roughly 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% Carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, and trace amounts of other gases....
, just above the troposphere

Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and almost all of its water vapor and particulate....
, and below the mesosphere

Mesosphere

The mesosphere is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. The mesosphere is located from about 50 km to 80-90 km altitude above the Earth's surface....
. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer farther down. The border of the troposphere and stratosphere, the tropopause

Tropopause

The tropopause is the boundary in the Earth's atmosphere between the troposphere and the stratosphere. Going upward from the surface, it is the point where air ceases to cool with height, and becomes almost completely dry....
, is marked by where this inversion begins, which in terms of atmospheric thermodynamics

Atmospheric thermodynamics

In the physical sciences, atmospheric thermodynamics is the study of heat and energy transformations in the earth?s atmospheric system. Following the fundamental laws of classical thermodynamics, atmospheric thermodynamics studies such phenomena as properties of moist air, formation of clouds, atmospheric convection, boundary layer meteorolo...
is the equilibrium level

Equilibrium level

In meteorology, the equilibrium level , or level of neutral buoyancy , is the height at which a rising air parcel of air is at a temperature of equal warmth to it....
.

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Temperature

The stratosphere is layered in temperature because it is heated from above by absorption of ultraviolet

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays, in the range 400 nanometer to 10 nm, and energies from 3 Electron volt to 124 eV....
radiation from the Sun

Sun

The Sun , a G V star, is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 98.6% of the Solar System's mass....
. Within this layer, temperature increases as altitude increases (see temperature inversion); the top of the stratosphere has a temperature of about 270 K

Kelvin

The kelvin is a Units of measurement of temperature and is one of the seven SI base units. The Kelvin scale is a Thermodynamic temperature scale where absolute zero, the theoretical absence of all thermal energy, is zero ....
(−3°C or 26.6°F), just slightly below the freezing point of water. This top is called the stratopause

Stratopause

The stratopause is the level of the Earth's atmosphere which is the boundary between two layers, stratosphere and the mesosphere. In the stratosphere the temperature increases with altitude, and the stratopause is the section where a maximum in the temperature occurs....
, above which temperature again decreases with height. The vertical stratification

Atmospheric stratification

Atmospheric stratification is the division of the Earth's atmosphere into distinct layers, each with specific properties such as temperature or humidity....
, with warmer layers above and cooler layers below, makes the stratosphere dynamically stable: there is no regular convection

Convection

Convection in the most general terms refers to the movement of molecules within fluids . Convection is one of the major modes of heat transfer and mass transfer....
and associated turbulence

Turbulence

In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a fluid regime characterized by chaotic, stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time....
in this part of the atmosphere. The heating is caused by an ozone layer

Ozone layer

The ozone layer is a layer in Earth's atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone . This layer absorbs 93-99% of the sun's high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to life on earth....
that absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation, heating the upper layers of the stratosphere. The base of the stratosphere occurs where heating by conduction

Heat conduction

Heat conduction or thermal conduction is the spontaneous heat transfer through matter, from a region of higher temperature to a region of lower temperature, and acts to equalize temperature differences....
from above and heating by convection from below (through the troposphere) balance out; hence, the stratosphere begins at lower altitudes near the poles due to the lower ground temperature

Temperature

In physics, temperature is a physical property of a Physical system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold; something that feels hotter generally has the greater temperature....

Aircraft flight

Commercial airliner

Airliner

An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers and carrying cargo. Such planes are owned by airlines....
s typically cruise at an altitude near 10 km in temperate latitudes, in the lower reaches of the stratosphere. They do this to optimize jet engine

Jet engine

A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Isaac Newton Newton's laws of motion....
fuel burn, mostly thanks to the low temperatures encountered near the tropopause. It also allows them to stay above any hard weather, and avoid atmospheric turbulence

Turbulence

Convection

Convection in the most general terms refers to the movement of molecules within fluids . Convection is one of the major modes of heat transfer and mass transfer....
in the troposphere

Troposphere

The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 75% of the atmosphere's mass and almost all of its water vapor and particulate....
. Turbulence experienced in the cruise phase of flight is often caused by convective overshoot

Convective overshoot

Convective overshoot is a phenomenon of convection carrying material beyond an unstable region of the atmosphere into a stratified, stable region....
from the troposphere below. Although a few glider

Glider

Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.Gliders such as gliders, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents....
s have achieved great altitudes in the powerful thermal

Thermal

A thermal column is a column of rising air in the lower altitudes of the Earth's atmosphere. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of the Earth's surface from solar radiation, and an example of convection....
s in thunderstorms, this is dangerous. Most high altitude flights by gliders use lee waves

Lee waves

In meteorology, lee waves, are Earth's atmosphere standing waves. The most common form is mountain waves, which are atmospheric internal gravity waves....
from mountain ranges and were used to set the current record

FAI Gliding Commission

The International Gliding Commission is the international governing body for the sport of gliding.It is one of several Air Sport Commissions of the F?d?ration A?ronautique Internationale , or "World Air Sports Federation"....
of 15,447m (50,671 feet).

Circulation and mixing

The stratosphere is a region of intense interactions among radiative, dynamical, and chemical processes, in which horizontal mixing of gaseous components proceeds much more rapidly than vertical mixing.

An interesting feature of stratospheric circulation is the quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) in the tropical latitudes, which is driven by gravity wave

Gravity wave

In fluid dynamics, gravity waves are waves generated in a fluid medium or at the Interface between two media which has the restoring force of gravity or buoyancy....
s that are convectively generated in the troposphere

Troposphere

Secondary circulation

A secondary circulation is a circulation induced in a rotating system. For example, the primary circulation of Earth's atmosphere is zonal. If however a parcel of air, that moves in a purely zonal direction, is accelerated or decelerated zonally, the Coriolis force will add a meridional component to its velocity....
that is important for the global stratospheric transport of tracers such as ozone

Ozone

Ozone or trioxygen is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic O2....
or water vapor

Water vapor

Water vapor or water vapour , also aqueous vapor, is the gas phase of water . Water vapor is one Phase of the water cycle within the hydrosphere....
.

In northern hemispheric winter, sudden stratospheric warmings can often be observed which are caused by the absorption of Rossby wave

Rossby wave

Rossby waves are giant meanders in high-altitude winds that are a major influence on weather. Their emergence is due to shear in rotating fluids, so that the Coriolis force changes along the sheared coordinate....
s in the stratosphere.

Stratosphere

Temperature

Aircraft flight

Circulation and mixing

See also

External links