Mesosphere

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This article is about the atmospheric mesosphere. For other uses, see Mesosphere (disambiguation).

Space Shuttle Endeavour appears to straddle the stratosphere and mesosphere in this photo. The troposphere, which contains clouds, appears orange in this photo.[1]
Diagram showing the five primary layers of the Earth's atmosphere: exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. The layers are to scale. From Earth's surface to the top of the stratosphere (50km) is just under 1% of Earth's radius.

The mesosphere (/ˈmɛsoʊsfɪər/; from Greek mesos, "middle") is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define its limits: it begins at the top of the stratosphere (sometimes called the stratopause), and ends at the mesopause, which is the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere with temperatures below −143 °C (−225 °F; 130 K). The exact upper and lower boundaries of the mesosphere vary with latitude and with season (higher in winter and at the tropics, lower in summer and at the poles), but the lower boundary is usually located at altitudes from 50 to 65 kilometres (31 to 40 mi; 164,000 to 213,000 ft) above the Earth's surface and the upper boundary (the mesopause) is usually around 85 to 100 kilometres (53 to 62 mi; 279,000 to 328,000 ft).[2][3][4][5]

The stratosphere and the mesosphere are sometimes collectively referred to as the "middle atmosphere",[6] which spans altitudes between approximately 10 and 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The mesopause, at an altitude of 80–90 km (50–56 mi), separates the mesosphere from the thermosphere—the second-outermost layer of the Earth's atmosphere. This is also approximately the same altitude as the turbopause, below which different chemical species are well-mixed due to turbulent eddies. Above this level the atmosphere becomes non-uniform because the scale heights of different chemical species differ according to their molecular masses.

The term near space is also sometimes used to refer to altitudes within the mesosphere. This term does not have a technical definition, but typically refers to the region of the atmosphere up to 100 kilometres (62 mi; 330,000 ft), roughly between the Armstrong limit (above which humans require a pressure suit in order to survive) and the Kármán line (where astrodynamics must take over from aerodynamics in order to achieve flight); or, by another definition, to the range of altitudes above which commercial airliners fly but below which satellites orbit the Earth. Some sources distinguish between the terms "near space" and "upper atmosphere", so that only the layers closest to the Kármán line are described as "near space".

Temperature

Within the mesosphere, temperature decreases with increasing height, due to decreasing absorption of solar radiation by the rarefied atmosphere and increasing cooling by CO2 radiative emission. The top of the mesosphere, called the mesopause, is the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere.[7] Temperatures in the upper mesosphere fall as low as −101 °C (172 K; −150 °F),[8] varying according to latitude and season.

Dynamic features

The main most important features in this region are strong zonal (East-West) winds, atmospheric tides, internal atmospheric gravity waves (commonly called "gravity waves"), and planetary waves. Most of these tides and waves start in the troposphere and lower stratosphere, and propagate to the mesosphere. In the mesosphere, gravity-wave amplitudes can become so large that the waves become unstable and dissipate. This dissipation deposits momentum into the mesosphere and largely drives global circulation. This helps the Earth.

Noctilucent clouds are located in the mesosphere . The upper mesosphere is also the region of the ionosphere known as the D layer. The D layer is only present during the day when some ionization occurs with nitric oxide being ionized by Lyman series-alpha hydrogen radiation. The ionization is so weak that when night falls, and the source of ionization is removed, the free electron and ion form back into a neutral molecule. The mesosphere has been called the "ignorosphere" because it is poorly studied relative to the stratosphere (which can be accessed with high-altitude balloons) and the thermosphere (in which satellites can orbit).[9]

A 5 km (3.1 mi; 16,000 ft) deep sodium layer is located between 80–105 km (50–65 mi; 262,000–344,000 ft). Made of unbound, non-ionized atoms of sodium, the sodium layer radiates weakly to contribute to the airglow. The sodium has an average concentration of 400,000 atoms per cubic centimetre. This band is regularly replenished by sodium sublimating from incoming meteors. Astronomers have begun utilizing this sodium band to create "guide stars" as part of the adaptive optical correction process used to produce ultra-sharp ground-based observations.[10] Other metal layers, e.g. iron and potassium, exist in the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region as well.

Millions of meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere, averaging 40,000 tons per year.[11] The ablated material, called meteoric smoke, is thought to serve as condensation nuclei for noctilucent clouds.

Exploration and uses

The mesosphere lies above altitude records for aircraft,[12] while only the lowest few kilometers are accessible to balloons, for which the altitude record is 53.0 km.[13] Meanwhile, the mesosphere is below the minimum altitude for orbital spacecraft due to high atmospheric drag.[14][15][16] It has only been accessed through the use of sounding rockets, which are only capable of taking mesospheric measurements for a few minutes per mission.[17] As a result, it is the least-understood part of the atmosphere, resulting in the humorous moniker ignorosphere.[18] The presence of red sprites and blue jets (electrical discharges or lightning within the lower mesosphere), noctilucent clouds, and density shears within this poorly understood layer are of current scientific interest.

Near space was first explored in the 1930s. The early flights flew to the edge of space without computers, spacesuits, and with only crude life support systems. Notable people who flew in near space were Jean Piccard and his wife Jeannette, on the nearcraft[clarification needed] The Century of Progress. Later exploration was mainly carried out by unmanned craft, although there have been skydiving attempts made from high-altitude balloons.

The area is of interest for military surveillance purposes, scientific study, as well as to commercial interests for communications, and tourism. Craft that fly in near space include high-altitude balloons, non-rigid airships, rockoons, sounding rockets, and the Lockheed U-2 aircraft. The region has been of interest to space travel. Early attempts used a craft known as a rockoon to reach extreme altitudes and orbit. These are still used today for sounding rockets.

High-altitude platform stations have been proposed for applications such as communications relays. There has been a resurgence of interest in near space to launch manned spacecraft by man. Groups like ARCASPACE, as well as the da Vinci Project are planning on launching manned suborbital space vehicles from high-altitude balloons. JP Aerospace has a proposal for a spaceport in near space, as part of their Airship to Orbit program.

High-altitude balloons

Main article: High-altitude balloon
The Earth from approximately 100,000 ft (30,000 m) above Oregon, United States.

Near space has long been used for scientific ballooning, for applications such as submillimetre astronomy. High-altitude balloons are often flown by students and by amateur groups to altitudes on the order of 100,000 ft (30,000 m), for both scientific and educational purposes.[19][20][21]

Phenomena in mesosphere and near space

See also

References

  1. ^ "ISS022-E-062672 caption". NASA. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Middle atmosphere". www.antarctica.gov.au. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  3. ^ Venkat Ratnam, M.; Patra, A. K.; Krishna Murthy, B. V. (25 March 2010). "Tropical mesopause: Is it always close to 100 km?". Journal of Geophysical Research. 115 (D6). doi:10.1029/2009jd012531. ISSN 0148-0227.
  4. ^ "The Mesosphere - overview | UCAR Center for Science Education". scied.ucar.edu. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
  5. ^ von Zahn, U.; Höffner, J.; Eska, V.; Alpers, M. (1 November 1996). "The mesopause altitude: Only two distinctive levels worldwide?". Geophysical Research Letters. 23 (22): 3231–3234. doi:10.1029/96gl03041. ISSN 0094-8276.
  6. ^ "Middle Atmosphere Meteorology". atmos.washington.edu. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  7. ^ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book") (1997). Online corrected version: (2006–) "mesosphere". doi:10.1351/goldbook.M03855
  8. ^ Mesosphere (Wayback Machine Archive), Atmosphere, Climate & Environment Information ProgGFKDamme (UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), archived from the original on 1 July 2010, retrieved 14 November 2011
  9. ^ "Upper atmosphere may hold clues in Columbia mystery". 6 February 2003.
  10. ^ Martin Enderlein et al., ESO's Very Large Telescope sees four times first light, Laser Focus World, July 2016, pp. 22-24
  11. ^ Leinert C.; Gruen E. (1990). "Interplanetary Dust". Physics and Chemistry in Space (R. Schwenn and E. Marsch eds.). Springer-Verlag. pp. 204-275
  12. ^ "Powered Aeroplanes World Records". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Research on Balloon to Float over 50 km Altitude". Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  14. ^ "IADC Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines" (PDF). Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. 15 October 2002.
  15. ^ "NASA Safety Standard 1740.14, Guidelines and Assessment Procedures for Limiting Orbital Debris" (PDF). Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. 1 August 1995. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2013.
  16. ^ "100 km Altitude Boundary for Astronautics". Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
  17. ^ "NASA Sounding Rocket Program Overview". NASA Sounding Rocket Program. NASA. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 10 October 2006.
  18. ^ "Reusable Rockets Set to Explore the 'Ignorosphere'". Discover Magazine. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  19. ^ GSBC, What is a High Altitude Balloon (accessed 8 August 2016)
  20. ^ UKHAS, A Beginners Guide to High Altitude Ballooning (accessed 8 August 2016)
  21. ^ DIY Space Exploration, Introduction to High Altitude Balloons (accessed 8 August 2016)

External links

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