Diagnosing High Frequency Gravity Wave Influences in the MLT through Modeling and Observation
Abstract
An anelastic numerical model is used to diagnose high frequency gravity wave influences on the evolution of fine layered structures in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) observed over Alomar, Norway. High frequency gravity waves are the dominant source of momentum and energy transport in the MLT, promoting turbulence, generating secondary waves, and driving the evolution of highly-localized sheet and layer structures through nonlinear interactions with evolving stratification and lower frequency waves. Recent advances in sodium resonance lidar and mesospheric temperature mapping imagers provide a unique insight into this environment, observing persistent layer structures less than 1km deep and capturing the dominant horizontal and vertical characteristics of wave interactions down to unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. Using a high resolution anelastic numerical model, several wave events are analyzed to determine the mechanisms through which gravity waves dictate the evolution of the background stratification and distribute energy through the region.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017AGUFMSA31B..03M
- Keywords:
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- 3334 Middle atmosphere dynamics;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 3369 Thermospheric dynamics;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 3384 Acoustic-gravity waves;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 2427 Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- IONOSPHERE