NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) successfully concluded its data-collection phase after exceeding its planned two-year mission.

The instrument (Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper) observed airglow — a faint glow at the edge of space — to map these invisible gravity waves as they propagate upward through the mesosphere and into the ionosphere-thermosphere region.

The mission collected valuable data over thousands of orbits, with initial datasets released earlier (e.g., after 3,000 orbits in 2025). It surpassed expectations and was deactivated to free up the ISS mounting point for the next experiment. The instrument will eventually be deorbited and burn up on re-entry.

This work helps improve space weather forecasting, which is increasingly important for protecting satellites, power grids, and future space missions. Data analysis will continue for years.

Initial Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) Imaging Analyses: Gravity Wave Sources, Temperatures, Pseudomomentum Fluxes, and Horizontal Wavenumber Spectra at the OH Layer is the title of a key scientific paper on the initial findings from NASA’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE), published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres on April 29, 2026 (open access).

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Initial Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) Imaging Analyses: Gravity Wave Sources, Temperatures, Pseudomomentum Fluxes, and Horizontal Wavenumber Spectra at the OH Layer

This is the first major peer-reviewed science paper from the AWE mission, published open-access in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (Vol. 131, Issue 9, April 29, 2026). It presents initial results from the Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) on the ISS, focusing on high-resolution nighttime observations of the OH airglow layer at ~87 km altitude.

Key Scientific Findings:

Gravity Wave Sources and Diversity:

• Mountain Waves (MWs): Strong responses over small islands and major orography (e.g., Southern Andes). Horizontal wavelengths (λh) ~10–300 km (or longer). Show complex breaking, instabilities (e.g., Kelvin-Helmholtz), and vortex structures.
• Convective Gravity Waves (CGWs): From deep convection over land/ocean and events like Hurricane Helene. Similar λh range (~10–300 km+).
• Secondary Gravity Waves (SGWs): Clear evidence of larger-scale waves (λh ~50–500 km) generated by breaking of primary waves. These propagate farther and can have significant impacts higher up.

Temperature and Brightness Imaging:

• Dual imaging (OH Q-line brightness vs. derived temperature) reveals different aspects of wave structures. Temperature maps highlight perturbations (T′), while brightness shows emission variations.
• Instabilities are vividly captured: wave breaking, overturning, and small-scale turbulence features.

Pseudomomentum Fluxes (PMFs) and Spectral Analysis (the most important result):

• AWE enables along-track, cross-track, and 2D wavenumber spectra of temperature perturbations (T′²) and velocity covariances (<uh’ w’>).
• Major Conclusion: The largest contributions to vertical pseudomomentum fluxes (ρ <uh’ w’>, key for momentum transport to upper atmosphere) come from smaller-scale GWs with λh ~30–300 km.
• This confirms that the waves AWE was designed to resolve (previously under-observed by satellites with coarser resolution) dominate energy/momentum transport and space weather influences. Larger waves (λh >300 km) contribute less to PMFs.

The paper demonstrates that AWE filled a critical observational gap: previous satellites had lower resolution and couldn’t fully resolve the small-scale waves that carry the most momentum to the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT). These waves drive variability in space weather, affect satellite operations, and influence atmospheric circulation.

The ISS orbit allowed repeat views (~4-day cadence) and multi-swath tracking of wave evolution. Data examples include responses over Japan, Tibet, the Andes, New Zealand, and Hurricane Helene.

The paper is highly technical with multiple figures showing raw images, temperature maps, keograms, and spectra. It sets the stage for future AWE data releases and analyses.

Full Open-Access Link: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JD045796

Published:  Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres

DOI: 10.1029/2025jd045796

Provided: NASA

Authors: David C. Fritts, Robert G. Stockwell, Thomas S. Lund, P.-Dominique Pautet, Kaoru Sato, Dai Koshin, Michael J. Taylor, Ludger Scherliess

Abstract

The NASA Atmospheric Waves Experiment (AWE) employs an OH imager that began measurements aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on 22 November 2023.

The motivation for AWE was to quantify gravity wave (GW) responses to diverse sources and their influences extending into the mesosphere and higher altitudes.

AWE measures temperatures at 2-km cross-track resolution in a 600-km wide imaging swath at ∼87 km during nighttime.

AWE swaths reveal a remarkable range of nighttime GW and instability responses from small to very large spatial scales over diverse terrain, deep convection, and oceans where no sources are apparent.

Mountain wave responses over small islands and large-scale orography exhibit horizontal wavelengths of λ_h ∼ 10–300 km or longer.

Convective GWs likewise reveal λ_h ∼ 10–300 km or larger over land and ocean sources.

AWE also provides clear evidence of secondary GWs having λ_h ∼ 50–500 km in response to strong MW sources.

Additionally, the ISS orbit enables repeat observations over all sites at an ∼4-day cadence and 2–3 successive swaths at an ∼1.5 hr cadence over all sites near the ISS orbit inclination of 51.6°.

AWE swaths enable assessments of along-track, cross-track, and 2-dimensional wavenumber spectra of GW temperatures, T′², and velocity covariances, <u_h‘w′>, for u_h′ = (u′,v′) spanning GW horizontal wavelengths, λ_h ∼ 30–1,000 km or longer.

These spectral evaluations reveal the major contributions to GW pseudomomentum fluxes, ρ<u_h‘w′>, to occur at GW λ_h ∼ 30–300 km.