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Two months after NASA launched a giant balloon into the stratosphere to observe rare polar mesospheric clouds, scientists are beginning to analyze the results.
The photos collected during the five-day mission could help us better understand the turbulence in the atmosphere, oceans and lakes and could improve weather forecasts.
PMCs, also known as noctilucent clouds, form 50 miles above the Earth's poles, fusing as ice crystals to tiny meteor remnants in the upper atmosphere. Their brilliant blue or white glow is visible just after sunset in the polar regions during the summer.
In early July, NASA launched the PMC Turbo mission, which saw the balloon float from Esrange, Sweden, across the Arctic, to western Nunavut, Canada. Onboard cameras captured 6 million high-resolution images (120 terabytes of data), which scientists are currently reviewing.
"From what we've seen so far, we expect to have a truly spectacular data set of this mission," said Dave Fritts, principal investigator of PMC Turbo at Global Atmospheric Technologies and Sciences. . "Our cameras have probably been able to capture some really interesting events and we hope they will provide new insights into these complex dynamics."
According to NASA, these clouds are extremely sensitive to environmental factors such as water vapor and temperature. Natural movements, such as airflow over mountains and thunderstorms, can easily disrupt the atmosphere and cause gravity waves that cause turbulence that affects weather and climate.
Although they are invisible to the naked eye, gravity waves can be seen as they pass through the PMCs.
"This is the first time that we are able to visualize the energy flow of larger gravity waves toward smaller flow instabilities and turbulence in the upper atmosphere," he said. Fritts. "At these altitudes, one can literally see the gravity waves breaking – like the waves of the ocean on the beach – and the cascades towards turbulence."
The seven specially developed imaging systems from PMC Turbo, each equipped with high-resolution cameras, computer controls and communication systems, and 32 TB of data storage, create a mosaic of 100-mile and 20-meter width.
Additional information can be extracted from laser radar (lidar) measurements of accurate PMC altitudes and gravity wave temperature fluctuations.
Last year, the British mobile phone operator EE announced its intention to use balloons and drones at high altitudes to connect rural communities. At the same time, scientists have recently suggested that spilling huge amounts of salt into the upper atmosphere could mitigate the effects of climate change. Stay abreast of all things NASA here.
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