Rare Electric Blue Clouds Observed By NASA Balloon

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Cameras aboard the balloon captured 6 million high-resolution images of polar mesospheric clouds that reveal processes leading to turbulence - chaotic movement in the atmosphere that can influence weather and climate, and their predictions.

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 gondola suspended from the launch vehicle at Esrange, Sweden.

Credit: PMC Turbo

The PMC Turbo gondola suspended from the launch vehicle at Esrange, Sweden.

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

PMC-Turbo scientist Bernd Kaifler assembles the lidar telescope.

Credit: PMC Turbo

The PMC Turbo field team, consisting of (from left to right) Christopher Geach, Bernd Kaifler, Biff Williams and Bjorn Kjellstrand.

Credit: PMC Turbo

Expedition 47 Flight Engineer Tim Peake of the European Space Agency photographed rare, high-altitude noctilucent clouds - also known as polar mesospheric clouds - from the International Space Station on May 29, 2016.

Credit: ESA/NASA

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