ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Radio atmospheric

When you talk on the phone with your friend who lives far away, your voice travels through the air using something called radio waves. But sometimes, the air can change in different ways that might make it harder for your voice to travel. This is called the radio atmospheric.

The radio atmospheric is made up of different layers of air high up in the sky. Each of these layers has different properties, like how thick or thin they are, or how much they're moving around. When radio waves pass through these layers, they can bounce off or get absorbed, which can make it harder for them to keep going.

Some layers in the radio atmospheric change at different times of day or year, depending on things like the sun's position or the weather. This means that sometimes your voice might be clearer during the day, but harder to hear at night.

Scientists study the radio atmospheric to try and figure out how it works and how to make radio waves travel better. This helps them design better technology, like cell phones and satellites, that can talk to each other no matter where they are in the world.