Hurricane Helene Created Ripples In Earth's Upper Atmosphere, NASA Image Reveals

Atmospheric gravity waves can be created by hurricanes, large thunderstorms, wind bursts, tornadoes and even tsunamis.

Hurricane Helene that slammed into the Gulf Coast of Florida in September was so powerful that it created enormous ripples in the upper atmosphere of Earth, known as atmospheric gravity waves. NASA's Atmospheric Waves Experiment, or AWE, mounted on the International Space Station (ISS) recorded the ripples roughly 90 kilometres above ground, showing the impact of terrestrial weather on space weather. The AWE instrument detects these waves by measuring airglow — a faint light given off by gases in the mesosphere.

“Like rings of water spreading from a drop in a pond, circular waves from Helene are seen billowing westward from Florida's northwest coast,” said Ludger Scherliess, AWE principal investigator at Utah State University in Logan.

Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm that conjured speeds up to 225 km/hr when it made landfall on the Florida coast. According to US media reports, over 230 people were killed due to the hurricane while property worth billions of dollars was damaged. A few weeks after Hurricane Helene, the US state faced another powerful hurricane called Milton.