NASA is planning to launch a rocket campaign from Kwajalein Atoll to study Sporadic-E layers, which are high-altitude cloud-like structures that disrupt radio communications, impacting air traffic and military radars.

The mission, called Sporadic-E ElectroDynamics (SEED), will involve launching uncrewed suborbital spacecraft carrying scientific instruments from the Marshall Islands over a three-week period starting on Friday.

Researchers aim to investigate how these layers in the lower ionosphere cause radio signals to reflect back to Earth rather than reaching higher layers, leading to communication disruptions.

These disturbances can result in misattributed signals for air traffic controllers, marine radio users, and military radars, causing false targets and distorted signals that are challenging to interpret.

Sporadic-E layers are dynamic and unpredictable, making it essential to understand their formation and movement to mitigate their impact on communications.

The SEED mission's principal investigator, Aroh Barjatya, highlighted the importance of studying these layers, which are not visible to the naked eye but can be detected by radars as patchy clouds or blanketing layers.

The ionosphere, spanning 60 to 1,000 kilometers in Earth's atmosphere, contains charged particles derived from ionized elements left behind by meteors. These particles, including heavy metals like iron and potassium, can form dense clusters known as Sporadic-E layers at lower altitudes.