stratopausen.
/ˈstratə(ʊ)pɔːz/, U.S. /ˈstrædəˌpɔz/, /ˈstrædəˌpɑz/ Meteorology.
The upper boundary of the stratosphere, which lies below the mesosphere, originally taken as the upper boundary of the isothermal layer immediately above the troposphere, and in later use identified as the level of highest temperature in the zone above the troposphere. Cf. stratosphere n. 2a.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > [noun] > specific regions of > boundaries between regions
tropopause1919
stratopause1946
mesopause1950
turbopause1951
magnetopause1963
plasmapause1966
1946 Jrnl. Geogr. 45 Contents 103 Parts of the atmosphere and the characteristics... Stratosphere—stratopause.
1950 S. Chapman in Jrnl. Atmospheric & Terrestrial Physics 1 121 Taking stratosphere to denote the nearly isothermal region above the troposphere, its upper boundary, where the temperature first begins to increase upwards more rapidly than is common in the lower stratosphere, would be the stratopause.
1963 Q. Jrnl. Royal Meteorol. Soc. 89 156 At its meeting in June 1962, the executive committee of the World Meteorological Organization passed a resolution on the terminology..for the high atmosphere. It is as follows:..(a) Stratosphere: Region (situated between the tropopause and stratopause) in which the temperature generally increases with height. (b) Stratopause: The top of the inversion layer in the upper stratosphere (usually around 50 to 55 km).
1979 Jrnl. Atmospheric Sci. 36 1616/1 Large [meridional wind] oscillations are seen near the stratopause (∼ 50 km) with a period of about 2 days and an amplitude as large as 30 m s−1.
2005 Science 13 May 975 Temperatures obtained from early Cassini infrared observations of Titan show a stratopause at an altitude of 310 kilometers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1946