The International Space Station (ISS) has made an unexpected observation in the wake of Hurricane Helene, which struck the Florida coast in late September 2024. As the hurricane unleashed devastating rain and fierce winds, it also generated ripples in the atmosphere that were detected approximately 55 miles above the Earth’s surface, offering new insights into the far-reaching impacts of severe weather.

Tthe phenomenon observed by NASA revealed that such storms can also influence atmospheric conditions at astonishing altitudes. The mesosphere, a layer of the atmosphere located between 31 to 55 miles above the Earth, is typically considered distant from daily concerns. However, NASA’s findings suggested that this layer can be significantly disturbed by severe weather events occurring far below.

On the day Hurricane Helene made landfall, NASA’s Atmospheric Wave Instrument (AWE) captured the signatures of atmospheric waves that are unrelated to the space-time fluctuations predicted by Einstein. Instead, these waves are a product of powerful weather systems like hurricanes, illustrating how they can disturb the air at extreme heights.

Michael Taylor from NASA highlighted the importance of this discovery, stating that it adds a new dimension to our understanding of how storms interact with the upper atmosphere. The ability to observe these effects from the ISS—an ideal vantage point for capturing atmospheric details that are invisible to ground-based measurements—opens up new avenues for research into weather patterns and their broader implications.

The AWE, installed on the ISS in 2023, was designed to monitor “atmospheric glow,” a faint light emitted by gases at high altitudes. During the hurricane, AWE’s sensors detected patterns resembling “ripples,” indicative of how Helene stirred the air well above its main storm zone. This observation extended westward from the coast, demonstrating that the atmospheric disturbances traveled far beyond the hurricane’s immediate impact area.

The mesosphere, characterized by extremely cold temperatures of around -150°F (-101 degrees Celsius), has been largely understudied due to its inaccessibility. However, the Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) has enabled researchers to detect subtle infrared signals that reveal hidden atmospheric activity.

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