Physics Commons^™

First Year Investigation Of Gravity Waves And Temperature Variability Over The Andes, Jonathan Pugmire, Neal R. Criddle, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet, Yucheng Zhao

Graduate Student Presentations

The Andes region is an excellent natural laboratory for investigating gravity wave influences on the Upper Mesospheric and Lower Thermospheric (MLT) dynamics: during the summer months the dominant gravity waves result from deep convection arising from severe thunderstorms over the continent to the east. In winter this convective activity is expected to be replaced by strong orographic forcing due to intense prevailing zonal winds blowing eastward from the Pacific Ocean and suddenly encountering the towering Andes mountain range (6000m). This creates large amplitude mountain waves that have been measured well into the stratosphere and most recently penetrate occasionally into the …