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Layers of the Atmosphere

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Air pressure drops in half roughly every 18,000'

Troposphere ends at 40,000', along with most weather
Temperatures drop as you go up

Stratosphere is from 40,000' to 160,000'
Temperatures increase as you go up to the Ozone Layer
(heat is released when cosmic rays collide with O2 to produce O3)

Mesosphere is 160,000' to 260,000'
Temperatures again drop as you go up

Trivia: at 100K, air is 1% of sea level pressure, similar to the surface of Mars

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Amateur Radio Tracking of High-altitude Balloons
Presented by Ian Kluft KO6YQ and Owen DeLong KB6MER
August 21, 2002
in Santa Clara, California at WVARA
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