mesosphere - Sierterm UEM | Terminología trilingüe

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CT: Interestingly, the mesopause can be regarded as a layer separating two distinct dynamical regions of the atmosphere: the termosphere, where atmospheric processes are governed primarily by external solor influences, and the mesosphere, which is influenced primarily by internal variability produced by upward propagating waves.

S: GBSS – https://bit.ly/34ec7S0 (p.51) (last access: 16 December 2020)

N: 1. 1950, “region of the earth’s atmosphere above the stratosphere and below the thermosphere,” made up of word-forming element “meso-” “middle, intermediate, halfway”, from Greek μέσος mesos “middle, in the middle; middling, moderate; between” (from PIE root *medhyo– “middle”) and noun “atmosphere”, 1630s, atmosphaera “gaseous envelop surrounding the earth,” from Modern Latin atmosphaera, from Greek ατμός atmos “vapor, steam”. In old science, “vaporous air,” which was considered a part of the earth and a contamination of the lower part of the air.
2. The mesosphere is the part of the earth’s atmosphere that is between 50 and 80 kilometres from the ground, between the stratosphere and the thermosphere.
3. Temperature decreases with height throughout the mesosphere. The coldest temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are found near the top of this layer.
4. The boundary between the mesosphere and the thermosphere above it is called the mesopause. At the bottom of the mesosphere is the stratopause, the boundary between the mesosphere and the stratosphere below.
5. The mesosphere is 35 kilometres (22 miles) thick. The air so thin that it is impossible to breathe in the mesosphere. But there is more gas in this layer than there is in the thermosphere.
6. Hot air balloons and aircrafts cannot fly high enough to reach the mesosphere.
7. Satellites orbit above the mesosphere but cannot directly measure the traits of this layer. Scientists use instruments on sounding rockets to sample the mesosphere directly, but such flights are brief and infrequent. Since it is difficult to take measurements of the mesosphere directly using instruments, much about the mesosphere is still mysterious.
8. Shooting stars are meteors which burn up and streak across the sky. Such meteors are burning up in the mesosphere. The meteors make it through the exosphere and thermosphere without much trouble because those layers don’t have much air. But when they hit the mesosphere, there are enough gases to cause friction and create heat.
9. Most meteors vaporize in the mesosphere. Some material from meteors lingers in the mesosphere, causing this layer to have a relatively high concentration of iron and other metal atoms.
10. High altitude clouds called “noctilucent clouds” or “polar mesospheric clouds” sometimes form in the mesosphere near the poles. These peculiar clouds form much higher up than other types of clouds. The mesosphere, like the stratosphere below it, is much drier than the moist troposphere we live in; making the formation of clouds in this layer surprising.
11. Odd electrical discharges akin to lightning, called “sprites” or “ELVES”, occasionally appear in the mesosphere dozens of kilometres (miles) above thunderclouds in the troposphere below.
12. Various types of waves and tides in the atmosphere influence the mesosphere. These waves and tides carry energy from the troposphere and the stratosphere upward into the mesosphere, driving most of its global circulation.
13. The stratosphere and mesosphere together are sometimes referred to as the middle atmosphere.
14. Cultural Interrelation: Nowadays when we see a shooting star in the mesosphere we make a wish. However, in the 2nd century, Greek astronomer Ptolemy interpreted them as a sign the Gods were peering down at Earth and therefore a good time to ask for what you most wish. Although thanks to scientific research and technology we know the actual reason to why they occur, however, we maintain the tradition of making a wish.

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CR: biosphere, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, ecology, environment, ionosphere, mesopause, nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxide, nitrous oxide, ozone layer, stratosphere, stratospheric ozone, tropospheric ozone.