High above Earth, thin veils of metallic haze drift through the edge of space. Known as sporadic E layers, these high-altitude clouds form from vaporized dust of burnt-up meteors, earning their name from the unpredictable way they emerge and then dissipate. They sit in the upper atmosphere where conventional weather models rarely apply.
NASA used a sounding rocket — a suborbital research vehicle — to obtain new results from inside these radio-disrupting structures. The multi-point measurement approach marks a first look at how such layers behave internally, rather than observing them only from afar, giving researchers simultaneous readings at several points through the layer.
For communications engineers and atmospheric scientists, sporadic E layers matter because they can interfere with radio signals. Following the rocket's findings helps predict when and where these meteor-born clouds appear, improving models of a phenomenon that forms and vanishes with little warning and that can disrupt links that normally pass through clear air.