The weather in the thermosphere includes winds that buffet spacecraft as they orbit the Earth, but how well can these winds be modeled?
wind
Posted inNews
How Arctic Cyclones Change the Sea Ice
Whirlwinds disrupt the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists are now beginning to understand how.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Ningaloo Niño Supercharges the El Niño–Southern Oscillation
The warm current cools the tropical Pacific and strengthens trade winds.
Posted inScience Updates
Satellite Observations of Ocean Surface Winds and Currents
Florida State University workshop on Satellite Observations of Ocean Surface Winds & Currents; La Jolla, California, 18–19 May 2018
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Eddy Generation in the Central Bay of Bengal
Eddies in the central Bay of Bengal are generated near the eastern boundary of the basin, related to equatorial wind forcing, nonlinearity, and the topographic “bump” of Myanmar.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Seeing Mars in a Grain of Sand
The second phase of Curiosity’s campaign at the Bagnold Dunes brought new observations of windblown sands during Mars’s windy season.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Wind Speed Governs Turbulence in Atmospheric Inversions
Measurements made during a field campaign in Idaho indicate that the speed of winds 2 meters above Earth’s surface determines the type of turbulence present in nighttime inversions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
High-Altitude “Wind Walls” Discovered near Magnetic Poles
Satellite imaging reveals two narrow channels of extreme winds surrounded by gentle opposing flow 140–250 kilometers above sea level.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Energetics of Western Boundary Current Surface Flows Are Similar
Despite different wind forcing and air-sea heating conditions, the surface layer energetics of two Western Boundary Current systems in different ocean basins are surprisingly similar.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Tides and Waves Interact to Cause Hurricanes in Near-Space
The interaction of tides and waves generated in the lower atmosphere can cause the mean zonal wind speed in the lower ionosphere to oscillate equivalent to a category 1 hurricane at Earth’s surface.