As Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26, 2024, it not only brought devastating storm surges and widespread destruction but also created massive ripples in the upper atmosphere.
Nasa’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE), mounted on the International Space Station, captured these enormous atmospheric swells known as gravity waves approximately 55 miles above the ground.
The AWE instrument, launched in November 2023, detected concentric bands of atmospheric gravity waves extending westward from Florida’s northwest coast.
These waves, artificially colored in red, yellow, and blue in the images, resemble rings spreading from a drop in a pond.
Dr. Ludger Scherliess, AWE principal investigator at Utah State University, explained, “Like rings of water spreading from a drop in a pond, circular waves from Helene are seen billowing westward from Florida’s northwest coast”.
WHAT ARE GRAVITY WAVES?
Atmospheric gravity waves are ripple-like patterns in the air generated by various atmospheric disturbances, including violent storms, tornadoes, tsunamis, and hurricanes.
The AWE instrument detects these waves by observing brightness fluctuations in the airglow, colourful bands of light in Earth’s mesosphere.
This groundbreaking observation provides valuable insights into the relationship between terrestrial weather and space weather.
Understanding how events like Hurricane Helene affect the upper atmosphere can help scientists better predict and mitigate potential disruptions to satellites, communication signals, and other technologies.
The images from Hurricane Helene are among the first publicly released by the AWE project, demonstrating the instrument’s sensitivity in revealing the impacts of hurricanes on Earth’s upper atmosphere.
This data will contribute to Nasa’s ongoing research on how our space environment can be affected by events occurring on Earth’s surface.
As Hurricane Helene continues to be studied for its unprecedented strength and devastating impacts, these new observations of its effects on the upper atmosphere add another layer to our understanding of the far-reaching consequences of such powerful storms.
