Historical data: the elusive "ignore-sphere" unveils the mysteries of Earth's polar lights.

Scientists have created the first-ever dataset covering the entire Earth's atmosphere, extending all the way to the edge of space. They hope that this data will illuminate some of the lesser-known processes occurring in the Earth's atmosphere, including auroras. The research has been published in the journal Progress in Earth and Planetary Science, reports Space.

Researchers continuously study certain layers of the Earth's atmosphere. For instance, millions of weather stations around the globe and hundreds of meteorological balloons conduct daily measurements of the entire troposphere, the lowest region of the atmosphere. Balloons also reach the lower part of the stratosphere, which lies above the troposphere. The volume of data obtained from these measurements allows for nearly flawless weather forecasts.

However, what occurs in the mesosphere, the layer of thin air above the stratosphere that reaches almost to the edge of space, remains largely unknown. Due to the very limited knowledge scientists have about the processes occurring in the mesosphere, it is sometimes referred to as the "ignorosphere."

The mesosphere is too high for meteorological balloons and too low to be studied using orbiting satellites.

The authors of the study aimed to address this issue through computer modeling. They utilized rare available measurements of meteorological parameters in the "ignorosphere," obtained using weather rockets and ground-based radars, to create the first dataset covering the entire Earth's atmosphere. Specifically, the modeling focused on reconstructing processes in the mesosphere.

To achieve this, data from measurements taken between 2003 and 2023 were used, covering the entire atmosphere up to an altitude of 110 km. According to the scientists, this dataset will enable the exploration and modeling of some mysterious phenomena occurring at high altitudes, including auroras.

Many phenomena related to space weather occur in the mesosphere. When bursts of charged particles from the Sun reach our planet, they mix with the sparse gases high above the Earth, exciting air molecules. When this happens, the molecules emit light, which we can see as auroras. However, there are also other, less noticeable effects that space weather has on the atmosphere.

Solar particles can alter ozone chemistry and deplete the ozone layer. Additionally, auroras can create gravity waves that propagate downward into the atmosphere, scientists say.

Gravity waves (not to be confused with gravitational waves that arise from black hole collisions) are vortices that occur throughout the atmosphere. They transport energy across the planet and influence climate patterns. However, scientists have yet to fully understand the effects of gravity waves that originate at high altitudes.

The authors of the study state that the new dataset allows for modeling gravity waves throughout the atmosphere, from the surface to the edge of space.

The data will also assist scientists in better modeling how processes in the lower atmosphere affect the ionosphere, the layer of the atmosphere above 80 km, where gaseous particles are continuously ionized by solar wind. Atmospheric waves, including gravity waves and global-scale tidal waves, impact the ionospheric dynamo, a process that generates electric currents around the planet through the interaction between Earth's magnetic field lines and the movements of ionized air in the ionosphere.

There are other mysteries of the Earth's atmosphere that the new dataset will help unravel, the scientists believe.