The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 5 plus 4 letter word VAN ALLEN BELT
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
V
A
N
A
L
L
E
N
B
E
L
T
More clues leading to the result VAN ALLEN BELT
Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "upper region" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case upper region = van allen belt.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.