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IONOSPHERE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The outer region of the Earth's atmosphere; contains a high concentration of free electrons
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("ionosphere" is a kind of...):
part; region (the extended spatial location of something)
Meronyms (parts of "ionosphere"):
D-layer; D region (the lowest region of the ionosphere (35 to 50 miles up) that reflects low-frequency radio waves)
Appleton layer; F layer; F region (the highest region of the ionosphere (from 90 to 600 miles up) which contains the highest concentration of free electrons and is most useful for long-range radio transmission)
E layer; E region; Heaviside layer; Kennelly-Heaviside layer (a region of the ionosphere (from 50 to 90 miles up) that reflects radio waves of medium length)
Holonyms ("ionosphere" is a part of...):
air; atmosphere (the mass of air surrounding the Earth)
Context examples:
The interactions may cause unstable patches of excess electrons in the ionosphere, an atmospheric region starting about 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth's surface that already contains ions and electrons.
(Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth, NASA)
The Particles and Fields Package, built by the University of California at Berkeley with support from CU/LASP and Goddard, contains six instruments that will characterize the solar wind and the ionosphere of the planet.
(Mars Mission Spacecraft Enters Orbit around Red Planet, NASA)
Because metallic ions have long lifetimes and are transported far from their region of origin by neutral winds and electric fields, they can be used to infer motion in the ionosphere, similar to the way we use a lofted leaf to reveal which way the wind is blowing.
(Mars Has Metal in Its Atmosphere, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The first hints that ring rain existed came from Voyager observations of seemingly unrelated phenomena: peculiar variations in Saturn’s electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere), density variations in Saturn’s rings, and a trio of narrow dark bands encircling the planet at northern mid-latitudes.
(Saturn is Losing Its Rings, NASA)
The storm initially produced patches of extra electrons in the ionosphere over northern Greenland, as usual.
(Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth, NASA)
MAVEN has made the first direct detection of the permanent presence of metal ions in the ionosphere of a planet other than Earth, said Joseph Grebowsky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
(Mars Has Metal in Its Atmosphere, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The electrons in the ionosphere normally reflect radio waves back to ground level, enabling long-distance radio communications.
(Solar Storms Can Drain Electrical Charge Above Earth, NASA)
