Photo courtesy of Jyrki Manninen
The Ionosphere
The ionosphere is a special part of the atmosphere. It is not a separate layer, but part of
the thermosphere.
Different regions of the ionosphere make long distance radio communication possible by reflecting the radio waves back to Earth. It is also home to auroras.
Temperatures in the ionosphere just keep getting hotter as you go up!
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The
Fall 2009 issue of The Earth Scientist, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the Earth’s ancient atmosphere, is available in our
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