Gravity Wave Propagation from the Stratosphere into the Mesosphere Studied with Lidar, Meteor Radar, and TIMED/SABER

Abstract

A low-frequency inertial atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) event was studied with lidar (40.5° N, 116° E), meteor radar (40.3° N, 116.2° E), and TIMED/SABER at Beijing on 30 May 2012. Lidar measurements showed that the atmospheric temperature structure was persistently perturbed by AGWs propagating upward from the stratosphere into the mesosphere (35⁻86 km). The dominant contribution was from the waves with vertical wavelengths λ z = 8 − 10   km and wave periods T ob = 6.6 ± 0.7   h . Simultaneous observations from a meteor radar illustrated that MLT horizontal winds were perturbed by waves propagating upward with an azimuth angle of θ = 247 ° , and the vertical wavelength ( λ z = 10   km ) and intrinsic period ( T in = 7.4   h ) of the dominant waves were inferred with the hodograph method. TIMED/SABER measurements illustrated that the vertical temperature profiles were also perturbed by waves with dominant vertical wavelength λ z = 6 − 9   km . Observations from three different instruments were compared, and it was found that signatures in the temperature perturbations and horizontal winds were induced by identical AGWs. According to these coordinated observation results, the horizontal wavelength and intrinsic phase speed were inferred to be ~560 km and ~21 m/s, respectively. Analyses of the Brunt-Väisälä frequency and potential energy illustrated that this persistent wave propagation had good static stability.

Keywords

• gravity wave
• lidar
• meteor radar
• TIMED/SABER
• the middle and upper atmosphere