Evening star., 1952-03-14
High Atmosphere Winds
Putot 500 Miles an Hour
Carnegie Study Discovers
Weuther' to Outer Edge
By Thomos R. Henry

Winds reaching velocities Of 500 miles
an hour sweep through the earth's high
atmosphere. $50
This hitherto unsupported phenome-
non has just been reported from tho
Department Of Terrestrial Magnetism
of the Carnegie Institution Of Washing
ton.
The great winds were found In the
so-called ionosphere, the region Of the
atmosphere which starts about SO miles !.
above the earth,s surface. It Is the
electrical roof Of the world from which
radio echoes are reflected. The atmos.
probably thinner than In most vacuum
are formed into ions, that are stripped
Of some Of their outer electrons. chiefly
by the ultraviolet rays of the sun.
From these ions radio waves are reflected
and the efficiency Of the reflection varies
with the density Of ionization.
IN the past 1t has been assumed that
this was Q region Of absolute calm. It
Is customarily divided into two layers
Of ionized gases. One, the E layer. 10
FIRST encountered at an altitude Of ABOUT
10 miles. The other, the r layer. is
found about $50 miles high.
Clouds Of Ions in Regions.
Work this year. It is reported by DR..
Merle A. Tuve, director of the depart
ment shows winds Of about 375 feet per
second in the E region and about TOO
feet per second In the r region.
In these regions there are clouds Of
ions The velocity Of the high winds ID
determined from radio echoing tests
at line Of stations set up between
Washington and Charlottesville. Va. The
cloud effects showed up at different
stations along this line at different
times, indicating the speed at which the
clouds were moving.
It now is fairly clear, says the report,
that weather" extends to the extreme
outer edges of the earth's atmosphere.
The changes in position Of the clouds.
it is concluded, must be due to ter
restrial causes rather than the changes
in the ultraviolet intensity Of the solar
radiation.
Found also in the high atmosphere
were "cloud surges." Of small dimen-
sions, which would show up In the
observations Of q single station. These
little clouds Of ions move with enormous
speeds, for the most part downward
toward the earth. Velocities as high as
275 miles an hour were recorded.
There also appear to be waves in the
ionosphere- periodic changes in density
Of ions which move with q maximum
speed Of about $40 miles an hour.
Like Whitecaps ON Waves.
The clouds and these longer-period
fluctuations, DR.. Tuve says, may be as
The existence Of these ionosphere
clouds. it is pointed out, constitute o
hitherto unknown physical phenomenon
which henceforth must be taken into
consideration in radio transmission
studies and which may explain various
mysterious anomalies which have been
!. reported in the past.
ts,s Above the ionosphere, perhaps EXTEND
i ing for. 500 miles or more, the earth's
atmosphere still remains. q complete
mystery. It Is presumably region Of
emptiness. The Terrestrial Magnetism
scientists, however. are on the verge
Of penetrating this last frontier, Of the
uplanet which canpet be reached by any
yhuman instruments There are O. few
clues described In Or. Tsive'ss report.
s. First Is the "twinkling" OF radio stars,
the invisible spots IT. the Milky Way
galaxy from which constant radio sig
nails are received on earth. The radio
radiation scintillates like the light radia-
ton from visible stars. .
This must be due, it Is believed, TO
turbulence Of some kind IN the extreme
upper atmosphere.
Radio waves Of such short wave
lengths that they penetrate through
the normal ionosphere sometimes are
reflected back to earth. The indications
are that this must be due to patches
OF ionized gas more than 600 miles
above the earth's surface.