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At the end of September 2024, Hurricane Helen hit the coast of Florida, USA, causing heavy rain and damaging winds. However, the consequences of this hurricane were not only on the ground. NASA scientists discovered atmospheric waves at an altitude of about 90 km above the Earth’s surface, which showed a connection between weather phenomena in the lower layers of the atmosphere and processes at high altitudes, writes Earth.

The detected waves were in a layer of the atmosphere called the mesosphere, which is located at an altitude of 50–90 km. According to NASA, the mesosphere is capable of responding to weather events occurring much lower in the troposphere.

During Hurricane Helen, the AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) instrument on the International Space Station (ISS) recorded signs of atmospheric waves caused by the hurricane. These waves are vibrations in the upper atmosphere that can affect air density at altitudes critical to satellite operation.

The AWE instrument was installed on the ISS in 2023 to study “airglow” – the faint light emitted by gases at high altitudes. It is capable of recording air pulsations caused by weather changes. Scientists use this data to understand how events on the Earth’s surface, such as hurricanes, affect the upper atmosphere, throwing it out of balance.

Atmospheric waves caused by hurricanes can change the density of air at high altitudes, which can lead to changes in the orbits of satellites. This is especially important for communications satellites, navigation and weather systems that depend on stable conditions in the mesosphere and thermosphere.

“The detection of these waves helps to better understand how weather on Earth affects the space environment. This discovery can improve forecasts for both weather conditions on the surface and processes occurring closer to space,” NASA scientists note.

This discovery demonstrates that weather on Earth and conditions in the space environment are closely related. Strong hurricanes, as the study showed, can cause changes in even the thinnest layers of the atmosphere. Understanding these processes will improve satellite control and weather forecasting both on Earth and near space.

Earlier, Cursor reported that astronomers, using the James Webb Space Telescope, for the first time discovered a galaxy in the early Universe comparable in mass to the Milky Way in the initial stages of its formation.