NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder Captures Movement of Polar Vortex
The U.S. Midwest has been gripped by the lowest temperatures it has seen in years. An unusually cold Arctic air mass, called a polar vortex,…
Atmospheric Science
NASA Scientists Observe Electric Blue Clouds in the Mesosphere
On the cusp of our atmosphere live a thin group of seasonal electric blue clouds. Forming 50 miles above the poles in summer, these clouds…
Could Alien Civilizations Help Predict the Fate of Our Planet?
In the face of climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, creating a sustainable version of civilization is one of humanity’s most urgent tasks. But when…
NASA’s Worldview Puts 20 Years of Earth Data at Your Fingertips
Powerful Earth-observing instruments aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively, have observed nearly two decades of planetary change. Now, for…
CubeSat Captures First Global Picture of Small Frozen Particles Inside Clouds
Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from…
Key Parker Solar Probe Sensor Bests Sun Simulator, Set for Summer Launch
You don’t get to swim in the sun’s atmosphere unless you can prove you belong there. And the Parker Solar Probe’s Faraday cup, a key…
International Space Station Investigates Thunderstorms in Earth’s Upper Atmosphere
Thunderstorms in Earth’s upper atmosphere remain something of a mystery. Scientists cannot reach them directly with instruments; they are too high for balloons and too…
NASA Creates First Ever 3D Model of Melting Snowflake
NASA has produced the first three-dimensional numerical model of melting snowflakes in the atmosphere. Developed by scientist Jussi Leinonen of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in…
Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Purple Lights in the Upper Atmosphere
Notanee Bourassa knew that what he was seeing in the night sky was not normal. Bourassa, an IT technician in Regina, Canada, trekked outside of…
New Experiment Recreates Prehistoric Ocean Conditions
A new experiment by Elizabeth Swanner evaluating the reduction of iron in prehistoric oceans may reinterpret the conditions under which iron-rich sedimentary rock is formed….
Climate Models Underestimate the Cooling Effect That Clouds Have
Princeton University researchers have found that the climate models scientists use to project future conditions on our planet underestimate the cooling effect that clouds have…
Two New NASA Missions Team Up To Explore Earth’s Ionosphere
Like Earth, space has weather. Except instead of swirling winds and downpours of precipitation, space weather is defined by shifting electric and magnetic fields and…
NASA Study Provides First Direct Proof of Ozone Hole Recovery Due to Chemicals Ban
Using measurements from NASA’s Aura satellite, scientists studied chlorine within the Antarctic ozone hole over the last several years, watching as the amount slowly decreased….
NASA Solves Puzzle Involving the Recent Rise in Atmospheric Methane
A new NASA-led study has solved a puzzle involving the recent rise in atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, with a new calculation of emissions…
Dramatic Decline in Atmospheric Organic Aerosol in USA
The air we breathe contains particulate matter from a range of natural and human-related sources. Particulate matter is responsible for thousands of premature deaths in…
How Cosmic Rays from Supernovae Influence Earth’s Cloud Cover
A breakthrough in the understanding of how cosmic rays from supernovae can influence Earth’s cloud cover and thereby climate is published today in the journal…
Scientists Monitor Positive Signs of Recovery of the Earth’s Stratospheric Ozone Layer
Each year, ozone-depleting compounds in the upper atmosphere destroy the protective ozone layer, and in particular above Antarctica. The ozone layer acts as Earth’s sunscreen…
Rare Nitrogen Molecule Discovery Offers Clues to Life-Supporting Planets
A team of scientists using a state-of-the-art UCLA instrument reports the discovery of a planetary-scale “tug-of-war” of life, deep Earth and the upper atmosphere that…