Lower Atmospheric Gravity Wave Impacts on the Thermosphere

Gravity waves are a significant source of mass, momentum and energy in the mesosphere/lower- thermosphere regions. But little direct evidence is available for waves in the middle- and upper- thermosphere. A new 2-D non-hydrostatic, non-isothermal, gravity wave model has been developed, which allows lower atmospheric gravity waves produced via thunderstorms, flow over local topography, geostrophic adjustment, or wave-wave interactions, to be coupled into a global thermosphere model. The current study- uses the 2-D model to determine the characteristics of the gravity waves at thermospheric altitudes using realistic temperature profiles determined from atmospheric heating and cooling, along with self-consistently calculated thermal diffusion and viscosity. The temperature, velocity, and densities computed are total quantities, rather than just the perturbation quantities.