Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Observation Of A Fast External Atmospheric Acoustic-Gravity Wave, J. H. Hecht, R. L. Walterscheid, Michael P. Hickey Ph.D., R. J. Rudy, A. Z. Liu

Publications

In November 1999 a new near-IR airglow imaging system was deployed at the Starfire Optical Range outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This system allowed wide angle images of the airglow to be collected, with high signal to noise, every 3 seconds with a one second integration time. At approximately 1000 UT on November 17, 1999, a fast wavelike disturbance was seen propagating through the OH Meinel airglow layer. This wave had an observed period of ≈215 seconds, an observed phase velocity of ≈160 m/s and a horizontal wavelength of ≈35 km. This phase velocity is among the fastest yet reported …