 Radiative-convective structure of the terrestrial atmosphere

Surface heating, upward sensible and latent energy transport, expansion cooling and atmospheric radiative cooling shape the tropospheric temperature decrease. Ozone ultraviolet absorption gives the mean stratospheric inversion. Reduced ozone heating and radiative losses allow mesospheric cooling with height; energetic solar absorption heats the tenuous thermosphere. Boundaries depend on latitude, season and dynamical state, and a schematic profile is not a measured global sounding. ^[ref]