In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene lashed the Florida coast with destructive force. But while the storm wreaked havoc on the ground, something far stranger was happening above.
From 55 miles high, NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) observed a never-before-seen phenomenon—atmospheric waves rippling through the mesosphere, a layer of the atmosphere often forgotten but now thrust into the spotlight.
Hurricane Helene’s Unseen Aftermath in the Upper Atmosphere
The discovery occurred high in the mesosphere, a cold, tenuous atmospheric layer between 31 and 55 miles above Earth. From the surface, this region appears empty and silent—but during Helene’s passage, the ISS detected wave patterns that revealed a dynamic and far-reaching atmospheric reaction.
These waves, invisible to human eyes on the ground, were strong enough to disturb the air at altitudes once thought immune to surface-level storms. Their detection marks a first-of-its-kind event—a physical link between hurricane dynamics and upper-atmospheric conditions.
The Atmospheric Wave Experiment: Seeing the Invisible
Installed on the ISS in 2023, NASA’s Atmospheric Wave Experiment (AWE) is designed to observe faint airglow—light naturally emitted by gases in the mesosphere. As Helene made landfall, AWE’s sensitive instruments captured ripples of disturbance stretching westward from the storm’s impact zone.
These waveforms, otherwise undetectable from Earth, showed how Helene’s energy had reached well beyond the troposphere and stratosphere. For Michael Taylor, a lead NASA scientist, this was a game-changer:
“It gives a new dimension to the way we think about how storms affect even the thin air at tremendous heights.”
Advanced Instruments Uncover Ripple Patterns Above the Storm
At the core of this detection is the Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM), a specialized telescope array aboard the ISS. AMTM operates in infrared, detecting subtle signals even in temperatures as low as –150°F (–101°C).
Its telescopes track the shape, movement, and temperature of atmospheric waves, making it possible to reconstruct what was previously invisible.
When Helene struck, AMTM helped confirm the presence of westward-propagating waves, signaling that the storm had disrupted atmospheric flow far beyond its landfall region.
These waves also revealed how air parcels reacted and shifted at extreme altitudes, offering a rare glimpse into energy transfer between Earth and space.
Tiny Waves, Big Risks: Satellites and Orbital Drift
While the mesosphere may seem far removed from human activity, its behavior can directly impact space technology. Small changes in air density—the kind caused by these atmospheric waves—can interfere with satellite orbits, slightly slowing or shifting them over time. For satellite operators, even minute variations can spell trouble.
The AWE mission allows scientists to monitor these shifts and predict orbital drag or resistance. This capability opens the door to protective measures for satellites before they suffer functional degradation or signal disruptions.
Decoding the Mesosphere’s Secret Life
The mesosphere has long stood as one of Earth’s least understood atmospheric layers. Sandwiched between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, it has been difficult to study due to its high altitude and thin air.
But tools like AWE and AMTM now offer real-time data, helping scientists unravel how surface storms influence space weather.
These new findings challenge prior assumptions that hurricane effects are confined to the lower atmosphere. Instead, what happens on the ground may set off waves that echo all the way to the edge of space.
A Deeper Connection Between Earth and Space
The observation made by the ISS, powered by AWE and AMTM, reveals a startling truth: Earth’s weather does not stop at the clouds. Hurricanes like Helene generate high-altitude disturbances that ripple outward, carrying energy into a part of the atmosphere once believed to be still and disconnected.
Now, thanks to NASA’s orbital vantage point and cutting-edge instrumentation, the hidden handshake between Earth and space is beginning to reveal itself—one ripple at a time.
