An Outburst of Noctilucent Clouds

Posted: January 27, 2022 by oldbrew in atmosphere, Clouds, volcanos

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Possible volcanic origin of these NLCs?

Spaceweather.com

Jan. 25, 2022: On Jan 24th, skies above Argentina suddenly filled with noctilucent clouds (NLCs). A video camera in Rio Gallegos (Patagonia) captured the outburst:

“What a surprise!” says Gerd Baumgarten of Germany’s Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, who operates this remote camera to minotor southern skies for unusual events. “We haven’t seen NLCs all year. Now, suddenly, they are very bright.”

NLCs are Earth’s highest clouds. They form when wisps of water vapor rise up from the poles to the edge of space. Water crystallizing around specks of meteor dust create the electric-blue structures. NLCs are, literally, frosted meteor smoke.

Normally at this time of year, NLCs are confined inside the Antarctic Circle. So it is a surprise to see them bursting out to mid-southern latitudes; Rio Gallegos is at 51.6oS.

To confirm that these are truly NLCs, Natalie Kaifler of the German Aerospace Center (DLR)…

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Comments
  1. oldbrew says:
    January 28, 2022 at 9:40 am

    On Jan. 15th, the Tonga volcano blasted a plume of ash, sulfurous aerosols and water vapor more than 55 km high, only 30 km below where NLCs form. In the days that followed the eruption, natural upwelling may have carried water vapor the rest of the way to the noctilucent zone.

    Data from NASA’s Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) show that weather in the mesosphere (where NLCs are found) did indeed change days after the eruption. Temperatures dropped, and water vapor increased.

    Both changes boost noctilucent clouds. But was Tonga responsible? AIM/CIPS Principal Investigator Cora Randall can’t help but wonder, saying, “it’s speculative, but we’re definitely scouring the data to find out.” Stay tuned.

    https://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=28&month=01&year=2022