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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 75, NO. 18, PAGES 3523–3536, 1970

Internal Waves in the Atmosphere from High-Resolution Radar Measurements

E. E. Gossard

Radio Physics Division, Naval Electronics Laboratory Center, San Diego, California 92152


J. H. Richter

Radio Physics Division, Naval Electronics Laboratory Center, San Diego, California 92152


D. Atlas

Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637


Abstract

A radar sounding system developed by Richter has a height resolution (about 1 meter) capable of resolving the detailed structure of small features in the atmosphere that were never before seen. Two distinctly different types of wave phenomena characterize many of the records. One type is a long-period internal wave. The mechanism of generation is discussed, and waves observed on the radar are compared with theory. They are shown to represent the fundamental mode of gravity waves for a stable lower troposphere. The other wave type is much shorter in period and typically shows a cusped structure like a breaking wave. Radar observations are compared with simultaneous wind and temperature soundings, and we conclude that wind shear is unquestionably the generation mechanism for the second type. We present evidence that untrapped waves above the region of instability indicate a flow of energy toward the shear zone, and we calculate the energy flux. The relation of these waves to atmospheric stability is described; their size is deduced from the observations, and their potential as a mechanism for generation of turbulence at the high-frequency end of the atmospheric turbulence spectrum is discussed.

Received 3 November 1969;

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Citation: Gossard, E. E., J. H. Richter, and D. Atlas (1970), Internal Waves in the Atmosphere from High-Resolution Radar Measurements, J. Geophys. Res., 75(18), 3523–3536.