ionosphere
noun
ion·o·sphere ī-ˈä-nə-ˌsfir 
: the part of the earth's atmosphere in which ionization of atmospheric gases affects the propagation of radio waves, which extends from about 30 miles (50 kilometers) to the exosphere, and which is contiguous with the upper portion of the mesosphere and the thermosphere
also : a comparable region of charged particles surrounding another celestial body (such as Venus)
ionospheric
ˌī-ˌä-nə-ˈsfir-ik
adjective -ˈsfer-
ionospherically
ˌī-ˌä-nə-ˈsfir-i-k(ə-)lē
adverb -ˈsfer-
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In general, such disturbances in the ionosphere do not harm humans but can affect GPS signals and disrupt aircraft navigation. 
Kasha Patel, Washington Post, 21 June 2022 These storms can heat the ionosphere – where Earth's atmosphere meets space – causing the beautiful auroras here on Earth. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 During the July flyby nearly 30 years later, data on the ionosphere was gathered six months after the sun's solar minimum. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 4 May 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The radio signal picked up by FIELDS helped the researchers calculate the density of the Venusian ionosphere. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 4 May 2021 See More
Kasha Patel, Washington Post, 21 June 2022 These storms can heat the ionosphere – where Earth's atmosphere meets space – causing the beautiful auroras here on Earth. Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 24 Oct. 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 During the July flyby nearly 30 years later, data on the ionosphere was gathered six months after the sun's solar minimum. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 4 May 2021 The drag comes partly from the way the conductive film interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field and with plasma in the ionosphere, creating an electrodynamic force, said Rob Hoyt, founder and president of Tethers Unlimited, which makes the device. Author: Samantha Masunaga, Anchorage Daily News, 6 July 2021 The radio signal picked up by FIELDS helped the researchers calculate the density of the Venusian ionosphere. Ashley Strickland, CNN, 4 May 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
ion or ion(ization) + -o- + -sphere
Note: The term was introduced by the British engineer and physicist Robert A. Watson-Watt (1892-1973), apparently first in an unpublished letter (November 8, 1926) to the secretary of the Radio Research Board, a government agency (see Nature, vol. 224, December 13, 1969, p. 1096). Watson-Watt used it in print in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, vol. 55 (1929), p. 278.
First Known Use
1926, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
ionosphere
noun
ion·o·sphere ī-ˈä-nə-ˌsfir
: the part of the earth's atmosphere beginning at an altitude of about 30 miles (50 kilometers) and extending outward that contains electrically charged particles