Earth losses its oxygen during auroral activity - Curiosity Streamer

Earth atmosphere losses several hundred tons of oxygen daily. Oxygen is very important of human and other aerobic organism survival. Researchers have identified how Earth losses its oxygen during night time, but they are not able to detect how oxygen loss occur during day time.

                                   

The escaping of oxygen at night is through auroral activity and they named this event as 'fountain of gas'.

This mission is called VISIONS 2 (Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2), and it is a part of NASA earth observatory program. This can studied easily in the regions like Ny Alesund, Svalbard, Norway. It’s the northernmost year-round civilian settlement in the world. It has an ice-free harbour year round, and a modern rocket launch facility. There’s also no sun in the winter night here to interfere with studying the auroras. 

But, above all this things Ny Alesund is far better suited to study about auroras, because every morning Ny Alesund passes through weak point in Earth magnetic field. This weak point acts as funnel that drains the fierce solar wind into upper atmosphere and boils the gases of our atmosphere off into the vacuum of space in an auroral fountain and it cases the auroras. 

Researchers launched the two sounding rockets to investigates about oxygen loss during auroras. sounding rockets are small and equipped with camera and other instruments to investigate oxygen loss. 

                                               

auroras can be discovered in advance with the help of  DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) satellite.

and help the research team to launch rocket in time. 

DSCOVR is NOAA's solar wind observatory, it tells the VISIONS-2 team when the solar wind is powerful enough and oriented the right way to cause auroras. At best, the team gets about an hour warning.

If the solar wind turns out to be too weak, then they will have wasted the launch. If terrestrial wind conditions in Earth’s atmosphere are too strong, that’s also a problem. so, the team must have to be very cautious. To overcome this problem scientist have launched the weather ballons every 30 mins to check the speed of wind. This mission uses 2 rockets which launched in a difference of 2 mins. so, that they can use to take the reading over the time.

After launch, there’s ten minutes for the rocket to do its work in the atmospheric fountain. Neutral atom imaging cameras build a picture of the fountain from within and without. The auroral camera documents the aurora itself, its temperature, intensity, and height. If all goes well, the research team is rewarded with a ‘wall of science. 

This launch is on Dec 7 2018, and this was successful all the instruments in the rockets are worked perfectly and return the intended data. The VISIONS-2 project is designed not only to help us understand our own planet better, but other planets as well. The amount of oxygen loss during the auroras time is very small. Several hundred tons each day might sound like a lot, but it isn’t. 

                                           

image credit : nasa earth observatory

                                           

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