A group of college students made a groundbreaking discovery by confirming a long-held prediction about mysterious gravity waves in Earth’s atmosphere. Their measurements during a solar eclipse in 2023 provided critical insights that could help improve weather forecasting and our understanding of climate change. This discovery highlights the valuable contributions that young scientists can make to advancing our knowledge of the complex systems that shape our planet.
The enigmatic facets of atmospheric gravity waves
A group of college students in the NASA-sponsored Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project (NEBP) has made a major discovery of atmospheric gravity waves that were observed from near space during the recent solar eclipse. Conversely, gravitational waves are not the same thing — these are ripples that happen in Earth’s own atmosphere and have been a subject of scientific inquiry for quite some time.
On October 14, 2023, the students sent a group of balloons full of tools to take measurements: sensors for temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed during an annular solar eclipse. The students also noticed a repetitive pattern in the data they gathered, and determined that it showed the atmospheric gravity waves. When we put all the data together in that time, and we plotted this time series, I could already see the stripes in the signal,” said Jie Gong, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and co-investigator of the atmospheric gravity wave research.
Join the Dots: Solar Eclipses & Gravity Waves in the Atmosphere
The location of the NEBP was an excellent choice. Solar eclipses and the origin of atmospheric gravity waves were both studied in New Mexico. “New Mexico was a very attractive site,” said Gong, “Most atmospheric gravity sources by far are your convection, weather systems and mountains. We wanted to remove all of those potential sources. The students were able to determine that the measurement changes due to the solar eclipse can be credited only to the effect of the eclipse on the atmosphere, and have thereby verified a decades-old prediction regarding how these astral events should relate with atmospheric gravity waves.
What the students found could hold big implications for weather forecasts and climate change. “Climate models are complex and they assume some things about what variables in the atmosphere to consider,” said Angela Des Jardins, principal investigator of the NEBP and director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium. “Understanding the response of the atmosphere when we turn off or alter the sunlight that drives weather on Earth gives us a unique laboratory to help drought and severe weather prediction and better forecast of climate change.
The power of student researchers in science
The NEBP has been a success, and the findings of these two college students are incredibly groundbreaking, speaking to the importance of young scientists in atmospheric research. Through participation in this NASA project, these students enjoyed a unique opportunity to engage in direct scientific exploration that helped build a fuller picture of how Earth functions.
Here, the students’ study of the atmospheric gravity wave signature present in data that they collected during a solar eclipse demonstrates how valuable it is to engage young minds in scientific research. Their unique perspectives and insatiable curiosity, along with willingness to tackle ambiguity may lead to insights that a more seasoned researcher might have missed. As we work to solve the biggest environmental problems of our age, building and supporting the scientists of tomorrow to enter ambitious research programmes will be key in steering into a more sustainable direction for future generations.
