First Recorded Hurricane From Space Pushes Plasma Toward Earth's Upper Atmosphere - Now. Powered by Northrop Grumman.

Sep 17, 2021

On analyzing weather satellite data from 2014, scientists discovered evidence of a hurricane from space that pushed plasma toward Earth’s upper atmosphere.

A recent publication in Nature Communications explains how the first hurricane from space was discovered through analysis of data gathered back in August 2014.

From their analysis, the scientists created a 3D image that showed the hurricane from space forming features similar to what we’re familiar with in Earth’s lower atmosphere.

The space hurricane, complete with a calm eye at its center, saw plasma whipping around at 4,700 miles per hour (or 2,100 meters per second).

With hurricanes from space, there’s also a lot of energy involved, but the storm itself is not caused by pressure gradients.

However, upon checking the satellite data, the scientists found that these were relatively quiet.

Instead of an outburst from the sun pushing plasma winds onto the Earth’s magnetosphere, the model showed that magnetic field lines were responsible for the hurricane.

Space weather such as this can also impact radio communications and satellite transmissions, for example, leading to satellite lag and decreasing the accuracy of beyond-the-horizon radar.

While you may not see a hurricane from space, you may have experienced them on the surface as communications glitches, radio blackouts and GPS confusion.

The more we understand about space weather, the better scientists can protect our communications systems in the future, as well as spot space weather on other planets?

On analyzing weather satellite data from 2014, scientists discovered evidence of a hurricane from space​?