Rare Electric Blue Clouds Observed By NASA Balloon
Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.
Music credit: “In The End” By Andrew John Skeet [PRS], Andrew Michael Britton [PRS], David Stephen Goldsmith [PRS] from Killer Tracks
Complete transcript available.
For more information: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-balloon-mission-captures-electric-blue-clouds
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo
Polar mesospheric clouds - also known as noctilucent clouds - were captured by NASA’s PMC Turbo mission. These clouds are affected by what’s known as atmospheric gravity waves — caused by the convecting and uplifting of air masses, such as when air is pushed up by mountain ranges. The waves play major roles in transferring energy from the lower atmosphere to the mesosphere.
Credit: PMC Turbo

The PMC Turbo payload, underconstruction.
The PMC Turbo balloon payload was equipped with seven specially designed imaging systems to observe the clouds. The seven imaging systems were arranged to create a mosaic of wide views extending one hundred miles across, with each narrow views able to image turbulence features as small as twenty yards wide. For the first time, a lidar — or laser radar — measured the precise altitudes of the PMCs as well as the temperature fluctuations of the gravity waves above and below the PMCs.
Credit: PMC Turbo

Atmospheric gravity waves over the Arabian Sea.
More information: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/5528/atmospheric-gravity-waves-over-arabian-sea
Credit: NASA/MODIS

Gravity waves and sunglint on Lake Superior in North America.
More information: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/81650/gravity-waves-and-sunglint-lake-superior
Credit: ISS
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Data visualizers
- Tom Bridgman (GST)
- William Putman (NASA/GSFC)
Writer
- Mara Johnson-Groh (Wyle Information Systems)
Producer
- Joy Ng (KBRwyle)