The atmosphere is a mixture of gases that surrounds the planet. Without the atmosphere, life on Earth wouldn't be possible.

Layers of Earth's atmosphere: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere.

The Appearance of the Sky

Sondes are instrument packages that measure temperature, wind, humidity and pressure. Sondes are launched on balloons and dropped from aircraft.

The ozone layer, in the stratosphere, is where about 90% of the ozone in the Earth system is found. But ozone makes up only one to ten out of every million molecules in the ozone layer. There isn't much of it, but ozone is powerful, able to block the most harmful radiation.

Weather balloons carry instruments high in the atmosphere to measure wind, temperature, and humidity.

This web series tells the story of the lengths people went to in order to explore the atmosphere and the technologies they used to get high in the sky and make measurements.