Change in the attenuation coefficient of light at the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere

The tropopause is the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere, so its height determines the nature of processes in the atmosphere and depends on them. The criterion for determining the height of the tropopause is a decrease in the vertical temperature gradient in a layer above 5 km and at least 2 km thick. Consequently, the uncertainty in determining the height of the section between the troposphere and the stratosphere is 2 km or more. In addition, the temperature profile changes due to the influence of many reasons, so sometimes the height of the tropopause cannot even be determined. The optical properties of air in the troposphere and stratosphere differ, which makes it possible to measure the height of the section with high accuracy using a radiosonde with an optical sensor. The launches of radiosondes with optical sensors made it possible to measure the height of the tropopause by changing the attenuation coefficient of visible light. It turned out that the lower edge of the tropopause corresponds to a sharp change in the attenuation coefficient. The repeatability of the results was confirmed by the simultaneous launch of radiosondes. The results of the work will be useful for the tasks of weather forecasting and climate research.