<P> The Concorde aircraft cruised at mach 2 at about 18,000 m (59,000 ft), and the SR - 71 cruised at mach 3 at 26,000 m (85,000 ft), all within the stratosphere . </P> <P> Because the temperature in the tropopause and lower stratosphere is largely constant with increasing altitude, very little convection and its resultant turbulence occurs there . Most turbulence at this altitude is caused by variations in the jet stream and other local wind shears, although areas of significant convective activity (thunderstorms) in the troposphere below may produce turbulence as a result of convective overshoot . </P> <P> On October 24, 2014, Alan Eustace became the record holder for reaching the altitude record for a manned balloon at 135,890 ft (41,419 m). Dr Eustace also broke the world records for vertical speed reached with a peak velocity of 1,321 km / h (822 mph) and total freefall distance of 123,414 ft (37,617 m)--lasting four minutes and 27 seconds . </P> <P> The stratosphere is a region of intense interactions among radiative, dynamical, and chemical processes, in which the horizontal mixing of gaseous components proceeds much more rapidly than does vertical mixing . The overall circulation of the stratosphere is termed as Brewer - Dobson circulation, which is a single celled circulation, spanning from the tropics up to the poles, consisting of the tropical upwelling of air from the tropical troposphere and the extra-tropical downwelling of air . Stratospheric Circulation is a pre-dominantly wave - driven circulation in that the tropical upwelling is induced by the wave force by the westward propagating Rossby Waves, in a phenomenon called Rossby - Wave pumping . </P>

Ozone gas in the lower part of the stratosphere