How does thermosphere differ from ionosphere?

The thermosphere is the upper portion of the atmosphere beginning at roughly 80 km and extending to the end of the magnetosphere. That is not a good ending as the magnetosphere has a poorly defined "end". read more

The ionosphere is defined as roughly 80-500 km. The ionosphere is the lower portion of the thermosphere. The northern and southern lights (aurora) are generated within the ionosphere. I think my major professors might frown at this simplistic explanation. read more

As nouns the difference between ionosphere and thermosphere is that ionosphere is the part of the earth's atmosphere beginning at an altitude of about 50 kilometers (31 miles) and extending outward 500 kilometers (310 miles) or more while thermosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and directly below the exosphere. read more

The ionosphere is not one of the ‘traditional’ regions of the atmosphere (troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere). It is a region of the atmosphere from ~60 km to ~1,500 km. This is the ionized part of the atmosphere. read more

The thermosphere (or the upper atmosphere) is the height region above 85 km, while the region between the tropopause and the mesopause is the middle atmosphere (stratosphere and mesosphere) where absorption of solar UV radiation generates the temperature maximum near 45 km altitude and causes the ozone layer. read more