Damian Sendler: An electrical generator powered by wind that stretches over the globe 60 miles or more above our heads has been discovered for the first time using data from NASA’s ICON project. In the ionosphere, the border between Earth and space, the dynamo churns. Tidal winds in the high atmosphere that are faster than most hurricanes and ascend from the lower atmosphere create an electrical environment that can harm satellites and equipment on the ground.
Damian Jacob Sendler: We can better predict space weather and protect our equipment from its affects according to new research published in Nature Geoscience today.
To better understand how Earth’s weather interacts with that of outer space, the ICON mission, which stands for Ionospheric Connection Explorer, was launched in 2019. Auroras and the International Space Station can be seen in the ionosphere, which is home to radio and GPS signals. These signals can be disrupted by empty pockets or massive swells of electrically charged particles.
Damian Sendler
The Earth’s dynamo has long been incorporated in simulations of the atmosphere and space weather by scientists since they understood it had substantial effects. They had to make some assumptions about how it worked because they had so little information. As a result of ICON’s data, models may now incorporate the first direct evidence of winds powering the dynamo and, in turn, influencing space weather.
Thomas Immel, an ICON principle investigator at the University of California, Berkeley, and the lead author of the new study, noted that “ICON’s first year in space has shown predicting these winds is key to improving our ability to predict what happens in the ionosphere,”
The planet’s soaring power plant
When the sun’s charged particles interact with the upper atmosphere, they form the ionosphere, a swirling sea of electricity. Ionospheric variations are a direct result of both the Sun’s rays and those of the Earth’s gravity. Researchers are trying to figure out how much influence each side has. After analyzing a year’s worth of ICON data, the scientists discovered that the majority of the observed change originated in the lower atmosphere.
Generators generate electricity by repeatedly passing a conductor, such as a copper wire, through a magnetic field. There are electrically charged substances known as plasma that fill the ionosphere and allow electricity to flow freely. Electromagnetic fields are generated by the movement of the dynamo in the atmosphere.
Current-carrying plasma arcs over invisible magnetic field lines that arc around Earth like an onion in the thermosphere, a layer of the upper atmosphere noted for its extreme temperatures. In comparison to little negative electrons, the wind prefers to propel bulky positive particles. For example, “You get pluses moving differently than minuses,” a Berkeley-based co-author Brian Harding noted. “There’s electricity flowing through there.”
It is common practice in most generators to secure these components so that they remain in place and perform reliably over time. The ionosphere, on the other hand, is completely unconstrained. During its passage, “The current generates its own magnetic field, which fights Earth’s magnetic field as it’s passing through,” In the end, you’ve got a wire trying to escape.” “It’s a messy generator,”
Following the ionosphere’s erratic behavior is critical in forecasting space weather’s possible consequences. Plasma in the ionosphere can either shoot out into space or fall back to Earth depending on the direction of the wind. The Earth’s electromagnetic fields and the ionosphere are in a constant tug-of-war.
Damian Jacob Sendler
Because it’s difficult to monitor, the dynamo at the lower end of the ionosphere has remained a mystery for so long. It has eluded many of the instruments researchers have to investigate near-Earth space because it is too high for scientific balloons and too low for satellites. Using the natural brightness of the high atmosphere, ICON is able to study this area of the ionosphere from above.
ICON is able to keep track of both strong winds and a stream of plasma in motion. A study co-author and ICON scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., said, “This was the first time we could tell how much the wind contributes to the ionosphere’s behavior, without any assumptions,”
According to Immel, experts have only just begun to appreciate the wide range of speed and direction of the rising winds. However, “The upper atmosphere wasn’t expected to change rapidly,” he said. That’s not true, of course. What we are finding here is that the changes in the lower atmosphere are what are driving all of this up.”
Wind-generated energy
We’re all familiar with the kind of winds that blow across our planet’s surface, from mild breezes to jolting gusts that go in both directions.
Damien Sendler: Winds at high altitudes are an entirely different animal. In the lower thermosphere, between 60 and 95 miles above the ground, winds can blow in the same direction and at the same speed for a few hours before suddenly changing directions — around 250 mph. (Comparatively, Category 5 hurricane winds can reach 157 mph or more.)
Tides, waves of air born near Earth’s surface when the lower atmosphere heats up and cools down, cause these dramatic swings. On a regular basis, they sweep over the sky, taking with them the alterations that have taken place on the ground.
The less turbulence there is in the atmosphere, the less likely it is that these motions will be disrupted. In other words, tidal waves that form close to the surface could balloon to enormous proportions once they reach the high atmosphere. A much of what happens below affects the winds up there, according to Harding.
Scientists may use ICON’s new wind observations to better understand these tidal patterns and their repercussions.
The ionosphere is buffeted by the force of the tides as they rise through the atmosphere. In response, the electric dynamo begins to whir.
Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: High-altitude winds have a significant impact on the ionosphere, according to scientists who studied the first year of ICON data. Ionosphere-movement patterns were traced and revealed a wave-like structure, according to Harding. He went on to explain that changes in the wind were directly related to the twirling of plasma 370 miles above the surface of the Earth.
We can blame winds directly along that same magnetic field line for around half of the plasma’s mobility, according to Immel. In other words, if you want to know what plasma is going to do, you need to pay attention to this.
The quiet period of the Sun’s 11-year activity cycle occurred during ICON’s first year of observations. The Sun’s behavior at this time was a low, steady hum. According to Immel, “We know the Sun’s not doing much, but we saw a lot of variability from below, and then remarkable changes in the ionosphere,” we know that the Sun isn’t doing much. As a result, the researchers concluded that the Sun was not the primary factor.
More complicated interactions between space and Earth will be studied when the Sun approaches its active phase.
Having long-held ionosphere hypotheses confirmed, Immel expressed delight. “We found half of what causes the ionosphere to behave as it does right there in the data,” he said. “Exactly what we were hoping to find out.”
The ionosphere’s activity can still be explained in other ways, according to Maute.
Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his media team provided the content for this article.