sphero-, spher-, -sphere-

In aeronautics, the area outside the atmosphere of the earth where manned flight is possible.

That part of the biosphere in which heterotrophic organisms occur but into which organic food material must be transported as primary production does not take place.

1. The part of the biosphere which has been affected by such human activities as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, urbanization, and industrialization.
2. The portions of the biosphere that are under the influence of mankind.

A zone beneath the earth’s surface that lies beneath the lithosphere and consists of several hundred kilometers of weak material that readily yields to persistent stresses.

The bending of light or a ray of celestial radiation as it passes into the atmosphere from space.

The twinkling of starlight caused by variations of refractivity in high-altitude layers of the earth's atmosphere.

1. The envelope of gases surrounding the earth and held to it by the force of gravity. It consists of four distinct layers, whose boundaries are not precise: the troposphere (extending from sea level to about 5-10 miles [10 to 20 km] above the earth), the stratosphere (up to about 30 miles [50 km]), the mesosphere (up to about 60 miles [96 km]), the thermosphere (up to about 300 miles or more [480 km]).

The upper region of the troposphere is often regarded as a separate region, the exosphere.

2. The gas bound gravitationally to a planet.
3. The outer layers of a star.
4. A supposed outer envelope of effective influence surrounding various bodies.
5. Prevailing psychological climate; pervading tone or mood; characteristic mental or moral environment; fascinating or beguiling associations or effects.
6. Applied to the background sounds that evoke a particular mood, impression, setting, etc., in a broadcast program, etc.
7. The air in any particular place; especially, as affected in its condition by heat, cold, purifying or contaminating influences, etc.

Atmospheric disturbances of electrical origin causing interference with communication in wireless telegraphy, television, etc.

The twinkling of stars (fluctuation of intensity) as seen through a planet's atmosphere.

Scintillation is caused when the star's light is distorted by the Earth's atmosphere. Scintillation is greater for bright stars that are low on the horizon.

The oxygenation of venous blood.

Scientific investigation of the atmosphere, or a written description about it.

That part of the biosphere in which energy is fixed by photosynthesis in green plants.