This picture shows the stratosphere. The stratosphere is a layer of Earth's atmosphere. It starts about 10 km (6 miles) above the ground and goes up to 50 km (31 miles) high. The layer below it is called the troposphere. The layer above it is the mesosphere. As you go higher in the stratosphere, the air gets warmer. Earth's "sunscreen", the ozone layer, is within the stratosphere. The only clouds in this layer are the colorful Polar Stratospheric Clouds.
Original artwork by Windows to the Universe staff (Randy Russell).