Super Typhoon Sinlaku reaches the edge of space: NASA captures stunning atmospheric ripples |

When Super Typhoon Sinlaku swept through the North Pacific in April 2026, it did something most tropical cyclones never do: It not only created visible ripples on the ocean surface, but also traveled across the sky and into the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere. The storm reached the “severe typhoon” category, the highest category used by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and is roughly equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, making it one of the few storms in the region to reach such intensity earlier this year. As Sinlaku rapidly intensified, satellites captured atmospheric gravity waves spreading outward from the storm in concentric rings, like ripples spreading across a pond after a dropped stone.These images were captured by instruments aboard NOAA-20 NASAThe Aqua satellite has given scientists a rare, detailed look at how Earth’s most violent weather disturbs the atmosphere to the edge of space.

What are atmospheric gravity waves and why Super Typhoon Sinlaku is important

Atmospheric gravity waves are different from gravitational waves in the physical sense. They are atmospheric oscillations caused when air is displaced vertically and then pushed back by buoyancy, the same restoring force that creates waves on water. When something powerful enough disturbs the lower atmosphere, these oscillations can travel upward through layer after layer of air, carrying energy from the storm well above the weather system itself.Tropical cyclones generate these waves through the intense release of latent heat near their eyewalls. This drives towering convective clouds called heat towers, which can penetrate the troposphere and inject energy directly into the stratosphere. one Peer-reviewed research in Geophysical Research Letters Using 13.5 years of satellite data from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, Hoffman, Wu, and Alexander found statistical evidence that stratospheric gravity wave activity is closely related to the intensification of tropical cyclones, and that the strength of these waves can be used as an indicator of how quickly storms intensify.Sinlaku fits this mold perfectly. In the 24 hours before the satellite image was taken, the storm had intensified from a Category 2 system to the equivalent of a Category 5 system, a dramatic, rapid intensification event that was entirely consistent with the wave signature detected above it.

How NASA and NOAA satellites captured mid-level airglow rings

The gravity waves generated by Sinlaku become visible through a phenomenon called airglow, a faint glow produced in the mesosphere about 80 to 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, where atoms and molecules that absorb solar energy during the day release the energy as light at night. This pattern is normally too faint to be seen with the naked eye, but the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) onboard the NOAA-20 satellite is sensitive enough in the day and night bands to detect it.The image, taken on April 12, 2026, shows nearly complete rings of concentric gravitational waves propagating outward from the center of the storm, a pattern that surprised researchers. Joan Alexander, a senior fellow at the Northwest Research Association, said the waves propagate radially upward in a cone shape. What’s unusual about this observation is that the rings remain almost intact at mid-level altitudes. Normally, winds in the upper atmosphere disperse or weaken gravity waves before they can travel that high. In April 2026, relatively weak stratospheric winds at Sinlaku’s latitude appeared to create an unusually clear path for waves to reach the mid-level.Imaging conditions also play a role. That night, only about 25% of the moon was illuminated, keeping the moonlight reflected from the cloud tops low enough that the fainter airglow signals could be discerned without interference.

NASA Aqua satellite confirms stratospheric signature

Gravity wave signals are not restricted to the mesosphere. NASA’s Aqua satellite used the AIRS (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder) instrument to detect thermal radiation from stratospheric gravity waves on April 13, and the same ripple structure reappeared in observations on April 14, confirming that the storm’s impact on the upper atmosphere continued for many days after the initial detection.this Original NASA Earth Observatory report on Sinlaku Pointing out that this multi-level atmospheric observation capturing the same gravity wave event simultaneously in the stratosphere via AIRS and in the stratosphere via VIIRS airglow is rare and scientifically valuable because it allows researchers to track how energy travels vertically through the atmosphere from a single storm source.A2Journal of Geophysical Research Research 2026: Atmosphere Using multiple low-light satellite systems to track tropical cyclone gravity waves found that multi-satellite joint observations can solve the problem of the continuous evolution of gravity waves generated by cyclones in a way that single instrument data cannot, thus enhancing the value of NOAA-20 and Aqua coordinated observations during Sinlaku.

Why gravity waves could change tropical cyclone forecasts

The practical significance of Sinlaku’s gravity wave signature goes well beyond the visual drama of the airglow rings. One of the most persistent challenges in tropical cyclone forecasting is monitoring storm intensity over the high seas, for which traditional weather station data are sparse or lacking. Rapid intensification events, in which a storm rapidly intensifies within 24 hours, are particularly difficult to predict and particularly dangerous because they can catch coastal residents off guard.Alexander noted that gravity waves could eventually allow researchers to track whether storms are intensifying by looking at wave signatures as indicators of convective activity near the eyewall, or even just from remote sensing data. She and her colleagues suggest that future geostationary satellites equipped with suitable infrared instruments could provide continuous gravity wave monitoring, giving forecasters a real-time window into the development of storms in the most remote areas of the Pacific and Indian oceans.