This title appears in the Scientific Report :
2017
Please use the identifier:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JD025621 in citations.
Please use the identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/16028 in citations.
Horizontal propagation of large amplitude mountain waves in the vicinity of the polar night jet
Horizontal propagation of large amplitude mountain waves in the vicinity of the polar night jet
We analyze a large-amplitude mountain wave event, which was observed by a ground-based lidar above New Zealand between 31 July and 1 August 2014. Besides the lidar observations, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) data, satellite observations, and ray tracing simulations are u...
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Personal Name(s): | Ehard, B. (Corresponding author) |
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Kaifler, B. / Dörnbrack, A. / Preusse, Peter / Eckermann, S. / Bramberger, M. / Gisinger, S. / Kaifler, N. / Liley, B. / Wagner, J. / Rapp, M. | |
Contributing Institute: |
Stratosphäre; IEK-7 |
Published in: | Journal of geophysical research / Atmospheres, 122 (2017) 3, S. 1423 - 1436 |
Imprint: |
Hoboken, NJ
Wiley
2017
|
DOI: |
10.1002/2016JD025621 |
Document Type: |
Journal Article |
Research Program: |
Composition and dynamics of the upper troposphere and middle atmosphere |
Link: |
Published on 2017-02-02. Available in OpenAccess from 2017-08-02. Published on 2017-02-02. Available in OpenAccess from 2017-08-02. |
Publikationsportal JuSER |
Please use the identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/16028 in citations.
We analyze a large-amplitude mountain wave event, which was observed by a ground-based lidar above New Zealand between 31 July and 1 August 2014. Besides the lidar observations, European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) data, satellite observations, and ray tracing simulations are utilized in this study. It is found that the propagation of mountain waves into the middle atmosphere is influenced by two different processes at different stages of the event. At the beginning of the event, instabilities in a weak wind layer cause wave breaking in the lower stratosphere. During the course of the event the mountain waves propagate to higher altitudes and are refracted southward toward the polar night jet due to the strong meridional shear of the zonal wind. As the waves propagate out of the observational volume, the ground-based lidar observes no mountain waves in the mesosphere. Ray tracing simulations indicate that the mountain waves propagated to mesospheric altitudes south of New Zealand where the polar night jet advected the waves eastward. These results underline the importance of considering horizontal propagation of gravity waves, e.g., when analyzing locally confined observations of gravity waves. |