Earth ID: 20014

Earth's Atmosphere Layers

Animations by Susan Twardy Released on December 9, 2003

The Earth's layers of atmosphere differ in chemical composition and temperature. They combine to create a protective sheild that maintains our delicate energy balance essential for life on Earth. Most weather occures in the nearest layer, the troposphere (0-7 miles). The stratosphere is the level where jet airliners fly and the ozone layer resides (7-30 miles). Beyond
that is the coldest part of the atmosphere, the mesosphere where only large helium balloons fly (30-50 miles). Finally, the thermosphere gradually fades into space (50-180 miles).

Animation Credits

Susan Twardy (HTSI): Lead Animator
Erica Drezek (HTSI): Writer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

Short URL to share this page:
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/20014

Mission:
TIMED

Data Used:
TIMED
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Goddard TV Tape:
G2001-022

Keywords:
SVS >> Byrne
SVS >> Gonnelli
SVS >> Layers
GCMD >> Earth Science
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0