Layers of the Atmosphere (Interactive Diagram)
Explore the layers of the atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere) in a single clickable vertical diagram, from the ground to outer space, including the ozone layer, the Kármán line, and the ISS orbit.
List of layers and markers
| Name | Type | Approximate altitude | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troposphere | Atmospheric layer | 0–12km | The layer closest to the ground, where almost all weather — clouds, rain, and snow — occurs. Temperature drops with altitude, reaching about -50°C near the top. |
| Jet airliner cruising altitude | Marker (reference altitude) | 10–12km | The typical altitude at which long-haul airliners cruise. Flying near the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere balances fuel efficiency with a smoother, less turbulent ride. |
| Stratosphere | Atmospheric layer | 12–50km | Home to the ozone layer, where absorbed ultraviolet light causes temperature to rise with altitude. Airliners often cruise in its lower part, where the air is calm and stable. |
| Ozone layer | Marker (reference altitude) | 15–35km | A band within the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone. It absorbs most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation, shielding life on the ground below. |
| Mesosphere | Atmospheric layer | 50–85km | The coldest layer of the atmosphere, dropping to nearly -90°C near its top. Most meteors (shooting stars) burn up and vanish within this layer. |
| Thermosphere | Atmospheric layer | 85–600km | This layer absorbs ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the Sun, causing temperatures to rise sharply. Auroras occur here, and the International Space Station (ISS) orbits within it. |
| Kármán line | Marker (reference altitude) | 100km | The altitude the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) defines as the boundary of outer space. Flying beyond this line is generally considered "spaceflight." |
| Aurora altitude range | Marker (reference altitude) | 100–300km | Auroras are caused by solar wind particles colliding with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, and are most often observed within this altitude range, mainly at high latitudes. |
| International Space Station (ISS) orbit | Marker (reference altitude) | 400km | The approximate altitude at which astronauts live aboard the ISS as it circles the Earth. Faint traces of atmosphere still exist here, so the station needs periodic reboosts to counter altitude decay. |
| Exosphere | Atmospheric layer | 600–10000km | The outermost layer, where air is extremely thin and gradually fades into outer space with no sharp upper boundary. Most artificial satellites orbit below it, within the thermosphere. |
What the layers of the atmosphere are
This tool shows the atmosphere from the ground to space as a single tall diagram, divided into troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere. Landmark altitudes — the ozone layer, the Kármán line, the orbit of the International Space Station — are placed on the same scale.
The first thing worth settling is that these five layers are not slices cut at arbitrary heights: they are defined by how temperature behaves as you climb. Temperature falls with height through the troposphere, rises through the stratosphere, falls again through the mesosphere and rises once more in the thermosphere. The boundaries — tropopause, stratopause, mesopause — sit exactly where that trend reverses. Density and composition do not draw these lines.
The stratosphere warms with height because the ozone there absorbs ultraviolet light and turns it into heat. So the ozone layer is not only the shield that keeps harmful ultraviolet from the surface; it is what gives the atmosphere the temperature structure it has. Cold air below and warm air above is a stable arrangement that resists overturning, which is why the stratosphere mixes very little vertically and has almost no clouds. Airliners cruise near the top of the troposphere precisely to leave the convection that causes turbulence below them.
The thermosphere is often described as exceeding 1,000 °C, yet you would not feel warm there. Temperature measures how vigorously individual molecules move, not how much heat arrives. The thermosphere is so thinly populated that very few molecules strike you at all, and almost no heat is transferred. It is one of the clearest everyday illustrations that a high temperature and a feeling of warmth are different things.
How to use it
- Click a layer in the diagram Its altitude range and its characteristics appear.
- Follow how temperature changes Each layer reverses the direction of the one below. You can see where the turning points lie.
- Compare against the landmark altitudes The ozone layer, the Kármán line and the ISS orbit are drawn on the same scale.
- Move between the diagram and the table Grasping the position visually first makes the figures in the table easier to keep.
Tips for getting more out of it
- Click each of the five color-coded layers to compare how temperature changes between them.
- Markers like the Kármán line or the ISS orbit point to a specific altitude within a layer — click them too for details.
- Comparing an airliner's cruising altitude with the troposphere-stratosphere boundary helps explain intuitively why planes fly at that height.
- The diagram uses a logarithmic scale (the visual space per kilometer shrinks as altitude increases) so the whole range, from the ground to thousands of kilometers up, fits in one view.
When this is useful
Learning the order of the layers for school
Seen stacked vertically, the sequence sticks far better than the names alone.
Wondering how high an aircraft flies
Cruising altitude sits near the top of the troposphere. It also explains why aircraft fly above the weather.
Looking up where space begins
The Kármán line is a convention drawn near 100 km, not a physical wall.
Checking the height of auroras and meteors
Both occur high in the diagram and can be matched to the layer they belong to.
Terms used here
- Troposphere
- The layer from the ground up to roughly ten kilometres. Almost all weather happens here, and temperature falls with height.
- Stratosphere
- The layer above the troposphere. Ozone absorbs ultraviolet light, so temperature rises with height.
- Mesosphere
- The layer above the stratosphere, where temperature falls again. Meteors burn up at roughly this height.
- Thermosphere
- The layer above the mesosphere. Its temperature is extremely high, but the molecules are so sparse that almost no heat is carried.
- Ozone layer
- The region within the stratosphere where ozone is concentrated. It absorbs ultraviolet light and creates the stratosphere's temperature structure.
- Kármán line
- The conventional boundary with space, drawn near 100 km. It marks an agreement, not a natural edge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — why the sky is blue and space looks pitch black
The daytime sky looks blue because of a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering: sunlight collides with air molecules in the troposphere, and shorter-wavelength blue light gets scattered far more strongly than other colors. As altitude increases and the air thins out, this scattering weakens, so the color of the sky gradually shifts from blue toward near-black once you rise above the stratosphere.
The boundaries between atmospheric layers are defined by the altitude at which the direction of temperature change reverses. In the troposphere, temperature falls as altitude increases; but once you enter the stratosphere, ozone absorbing ultraviolet light causes temperature to start rising again. This turning point is called a "pause" — the tropopause between the troposphere and stratosphere, the stratopause between the stratosphere and mesosphere, and so on.
A shooting star is a tiny fragment of dust or rock from space that enters Earth's atmosphere at high speed and heats up until it glows from friction with the air. This mostly happens in the mesosphere (roughly 50-85 km altitude), where most of these fragments burn up completely. In the rare case a fragment survives all the way to the ground, it is called a meteorite.