NASA Mission Catching AWEsome Waves in Earth’s Airglow

Narration: Beth Anthony

Transcript:

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At the boundary where Earth's atmosphere

meets space, an ethereal glow holds clues

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to how weather on our planet interacts

with weather in space.

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To investigate NASA's new Atmospheric

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Waves Experiment or

AWE mission is studying waves

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passing through these colorful bands

of light known as airglow.

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The waves occur naturally

when dramatic weather events

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such as thunderstorms,

hurricanes and tornadoes

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push pockets of air upward

before gravity pulls the air back down.

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These ripples in the air

are called atmospheric gravity waves.

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Though these waves are normally invisible

to the human eye,

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they can often be seen as distinct

patterns in clouds.

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As atmospheric

gravity waves travel upward,

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they can grow and reach

all the way to near-Earth space.

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There, they contribute to space weather -

an exchange of energy

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between the Sun and Earth

that can disrupt satellites

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along with navigation and communication

signals that travel through this region.

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Attached to the International

Space Station,

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AWE can observe these waves

around the world by recording

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fluctuations in the brightness of airglow

as waves pass through it.

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By taking one image

every second as it orbits Earth,

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all will provide the first global

measurements of atmospheric gravity waves,

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revealing where and when they occur,

how they travel and transfer energy,

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and how they vary from season to season

or across the globe.

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Little is known about the distribution

and effects of atmospheric gravity waves,

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but through NASA's AWE mission, scientists

hope to understand more

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about how Earth's weather

can impact the space environment.