What is the actual temperature of the air at an altitude of 30 kilometers?

1 Answer
Nov 8, 2017

It is not a fixed amount.

Explanation:

Throughout the stratosphere we see an increase in temperature with altitude primarily from ozone absorption of UV energy. The tropopause (layer just below the stratosphere) is about -55 degrees Celsius. At the top of the stratosphere the temperature is around -3 degrees Celsius. 30 km is about the middle of the stratosphere and so it the temperature is going to be somewhere between -55 and -3 degrees. If you figure depending on the height of the tropopause (it is not a fixed height). If I was going to guess a number I would average the top and bottom since it is about half way. So -29.