upper atmosphere

American  

noun

Meteorology.

1. the portion of the atmosphere above the troposphere.

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upper atmosphere British  

noun

1. meteorol that part of the atmosphere above the troposphere

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upper atmosphere Scientific  

1. The part of the atmosphere above the troposphere. The upper atmosphere includes the mesosphere, the ionosphere, the thermosphere, and the exosphere. Temperatures in the upper atmosphere decrease with increasing altitude except in the thermosphere, where temperatures increase significantly with altitude, because the few molecules present receive intense solar radiation.

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Etymology

Origin of upper atmosphere

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upper atmosphere

After more than a century of powered flight, Mr. Kirsch writes, we “have not yet securely attached the upper atmosphere to the realm of human experience.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The researchers used publicly available orbital information from Starlink satellites and applied tomography, a technique commonly associated with medical imaging, to Earth's upper atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

Ballistic missiles travel into the upper atmosphere or space before plunging back down toward a target, but not all are capable of maneuvering.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

But the only gas discovered in the atmosphere so far is helium, probably in the upper atmosphere, which on its own would not support life.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

As we began to penetrate the thin upper atmosphere, the sky out our windows began to change from the black of space to a tunnel of light.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins