For the first time ever, supersonic plasma jets have been detected in the Earth’s atmosphere that may be responsible for some pretty harsh weather conditions. As well as changing the chemical composition of our planet’s ionosphere, they’re actually causing the atmospheric layer to rise so far up that some of the Earth’s atmospheric materials are drifting off into space. The existence of the Earth’s ionosphere was confirmed back in the 1970’s as soon as scientists worked out how to get satellites up there. Once they did, they discovered that it spans an area of approximately 75 to 1,000 km (46 to 621 miles) above the Earth’s surface.
Birkeland currents carry up to 1 TW of electric power to the upper atmosphere and are also what’s behind both aurora borealis and aurora australis. The European Space Agency (ESA) has just recently deployed a set of Swam satellites to travel into space to investigate these currents. What they found initially was that the satellites detected large electrical fields where the Birkeland currents interact above the planet. The satellites have now confirmed that these electrical fields are in fact driving supersonic plasma jets, nicknamed ‘Birkeland current boundary flows.’
Recent observations by Swarm have revealed that they are associated with large electrical fields and occur where upwards and downwards Birkeland currents connect through the ionosphere. Scientists have also discovered that these strong electric fields drive supersonic plasma jets. University of Calgary/ESA
“Using data from the Swarm satellites’ electric field instruments, we discovered that these strong electric fields drive supersonic plasma jets,” said Bill Archer, one of the team members from the University of Calgary. He continues, “They can drive ionosphere to temperatures approaching 10,000 degrees Celsius and change its chemical composition. They also cause the ionosphere to flow upwards to higher altitudes, where the additional energization can lead to loss of atmospheric pressure.”
Previously the Swam satellites detected an accelerating river of molten iron around 3,000 km below the surface of Alaska and Siberia. They also discovered that this 420 km (260 miles) wide jet stream has tripled in size and is currently headed towards Europe. It’s also related directly to the Earth’s magnetic fields. Whirlpools and movements in the liquid can be seen that are caused by differences in temperature and pressure and put together with the Earth’s spin, they produce magnetic fields. Swarm mission manager, Rune Floberghagen, said, “The magnetic field is forever changing, and this could even make the jet stream switch direction.”
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