Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF)

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 104, NO. D6, PAGES 6067–6080, 1999

Momentum and energy fluxes of monochromatic gravity waves observed by an OH imager at Starfire Optical Range, New Mexico

G. R. Swenson

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana

R. Haque

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana

W. Yang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana

C. S. Gardner

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana

Abstract

The intrinsic characteristics of acoustic gravity waves can be deduced when the wave parameters are measured simultaneously with the winds and temperatures so that Doppler effects can be compensated. During February and April, 1995, five nights of OH imager observations of structure were made at the Starfire Optical Range near Albuquerque, New Mexico, simultaneously with Na wind/temperature lidar. The observed (C _O) and intrinsic (C _I) phase speeds were deduced for 161 gravity waves from the movement of horizontal structure observed in the images (taken every 2 min) and lidar horizontal wind profiles. The mean of the horizontal wavelengths and horizontal phase speeds for the five nights are λ _h ∼ 28.8 km, C _O = 33.4 m s⁻¹, and C _I = 61.4 m s⁻¹. The mean vertical wavelength, intrinsic period, and vertical phase speed are λ _z ∼ 26.6 km, τ_I ∼ 7.7 min, and C _z ∼ 61.5 m s⁻¹, respectively. Because of their large vertical phase velocities, these waves can propagate to almost 200-km altitude before they are damped by molecular diffusion. The mean vertical flux of horizontal momentum (F_m ) was 21.9 m² s⁻², and the mean zonal and meridional components were −5.3 and +6.1 m² s⁻², respectively. Monochromatic waves with τ_I > 1 hour and λ _z < 20 km were also characterized using the Na lidar wind and temperature profiles [Yang, 1998]. The waves measured simultaneously by the lidar in the same volume of atmosphere observed by the imager had a mean momentum flux of F_m = 13.3 m² s⁻². The mean zonal and meridional momentum fluxes of the combined data sets are −3.2 and +3.6 m² s⁻², respectively.

Received 5 June 1998; accepted 27 October 1998.

Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF)

Citation: Swenson, G. R., R. Haque, W. Yang, and C. S. Gardner (1999), Momentum and energy fluxes of monochromatic gravity waves observed by an OH imager at Starfire Optical Range, New Mexico, J. Geophys. Res., 104(D6), 6067–6080.

Copyright 1999 by the American Geophysical Union.