Stratocumulus clouds, one of four genera that are hybrids of cumulus clouds, are made up of water drops and possibly hail and snow. They are very common over portions of the world's oceans and are thought to be very important in determining the Earth's radiation budget. The top of the stratosphere, where the transition occurs between the stratosphere and the mesosphere above it. The stratopause is located at a height of about 50 kilometers. The atmospheric region that lies above the tropopause.
Temperature generally increases with height in the stratosphere.
The upper stratosphere is warm due to the absorption by ozone of ultraviolet rays. There is very little vertical mixing in the stratosphere and residence times of the atmospheric particles are very long. Usually occurs in the north polar region. One of the three major cloud types that comprise the ten main groups or genera, stratus clouds organize themselves into sheets or layers. They can cover areas as big as several hundred thousand square kilometers.