Abstract
The stratosphere was discovered in the pioneering days of high-altitude balloon research. Between 1899 and 1902 experiments performed by Assmann and Teisserenc de Bort revealed a cold isothermal layer extending upwards from the top of the troposphere. The initial height of the layer appeared to vary from about 6 km in the polar regions to 18 km above the equator. As a result of such balloon measurements, it was long supposed that beyond the troposphere the temperature ceased to change with altitude. In the presence of the earth’s gravitational field such an isothermal region would, of course, be characterized by a diffusive separation of its various constituents, with the heavier gases settling out and the lighter ones predominating at the higher altitudes. The name stratosphere aptly describes such an atmosphere.
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© 1951 American Meteorological Society
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Newell, H.E. (1951). Temperatures and Pressures in the Upper Atmosphere. In: Malone, T.F. (eds) Compendium of Meteorology. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-70-9_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-940033-70-9_25
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