Atmosphere of Earth (see the temperature section, below). Because the general pattern of the temperature/altitude profile is constant and measurable by means of instrumented balloon soundings, the temperature behavior provides a useful metric to distinguish atmospheric layers. In this way, Earth's atmosphere can be divided (called atmospheric stratification) into five main layers. Excluding the exosphere, the atmosphere has four primary layers, which are the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, and thermosphere. From highest to lowest, the five main layers are: The exosphere is the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere (i.e. the upper limit of the atmosphere). It extends from the exobase, which is located at
Planetary boundary layer Planetary boundary layer In meteorology the planetary boundary layer (PBL), also known as the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) or "peplosphere", is the lowest part of the atmosphere and its behavior is directly influenced by its contact with a planetary surface . On Earth it usually responds to changes in surface radiative forcing in an hour or less. In this layer physical quantities such as flow velocity, temperature, moisture, etc., display rapid fluctuations (turbulence) and vertical mixing is strong. Above the PBL is the "free atmosphere" where the wind is approximately geostrophic (parallel to the isobars) , while within the PBL