In which layer of the atmosphere do weather phenomena such as clouds, fog, rain, and snow occur?

Weather phenomena such as clouds, fog, rain and snow occur in the troposphere of the atmosphere. The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere, close to the surface of the earth. Its thickness is about 10 to 20 kilometers. The atmosphere in the troposphere is greatly affected by the earth. The temperature at this layer decreases with increasing height, approximately 5 to 6°C for every 1,000 meters of elevation. The survival of animals and plants, and most of human activities, are also within this layer. Because the air convection in this layer is very obvious, it is called the troposphere.

Above the troposphere is the stratosphere, which is about 20 to 50 kilometers above the earth's surface. The air in the stratosphere is relatively stable and the atmosphere flows smoothly, so it is called the stratosphere. There is very little water vapor and dust in the stratosphere, and below 30 kilometers is the stratosphere, with a temperature of about -55°C.

Above the stratosphere is the mesosphere, about 50 to 85 kilometers away from the earth's surface. The air here is already very thin. The prominent feature is that the temperature decreases rapidly with increasing height and the vertical convection of the air is strong.

Beyond the mesosphere is the warm layer, which is about 100 to 800 kilometers away from the earth's surface. The most prominent feature of the warm layer is that when sunlight shines on it, the ultraviolet rays in the sunlight are absorbed by the oxygen atoms in this layer, causing the temperature to rise, so it is called the warm layer.

The exosphere is above the warm layer and is composed of charged particles. In addition to this, there are two special layers, the ozone layer and the ionosphere. The ozone layer is 20 to 30 kilometers above the ground, actually between the troposphere and the stratosphere. This layer is mainly caused by the actinic action of oxygen molecules by the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, turning the oxygen molecules into ozone. The ionosphere is very thick, about 80 kilometers above the earth's surface. The ionosphere is a gas in high altitude that is ionized into charged positive and negative ions and some free electrons when exposed to ultraviolet rays from the sun. The ionosphere has a great influence on electromagnetic waves. We can use the characteristics of electromagnetic short waves to be reflected back to the ground by the ionosphere to achieve long-distance communication of electromagnetic waves.