Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Physics
Image Measurements Of Short Period Gravity Waves At Equatorial Latitudes, Michael J. Taylor, W. R. Pendleton Jr., S. Clark, H. Takahashi, D. Gobbi, R. A. Goldberg
Image Measurements Of Short Period Gravity Waves At Equatorial Latitudes, Michael J. Taylor, W. R. Pendleton Jr., S. Clark, H. Takahashi, D. Gobbi, R. A. Goldberg
All Physics Faculty Publications
A high-performance, all-sky imaging system has been used to obtain novel data on the morphology and dynamics of short-period (<1 hour) gravity waves at equatorial latitudes. Gravity waves imaged in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere were recorded in three nightglow emissions, the near-infrared OH emission, and the visible wavelength OI (557.7 nm) and Na (589.2 nm) emissions spanning the altitude range ∼80–100 km. The measurements were made from Alcantara, Brazil (2.3°S, 44.5°W), during the period August-October 1994 as part of the NASA/Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais “Guara campaign”. Over 50 wave events were imaged from which a statistical study of the characteristics of equatorial gravity waves has been performed. The data were found to divide naturally into two groups. The first group corresponded to extensive, freely propagating (or ducted) gravity waves with observed periods ranging from 3.7 to 36.6 min, while the second group consisted of waves of a much smaller scale and transient nature. The later group exhibited a bimodal distribution for the observed periods at 5.18 ± 0.26 min and 4.32 ± 0.15 min, close to the local Brunt-Vaisala period and the acoustic cutoff period, respectively. In comparison, the larger-scale waves exhibited a clear tendency for their horizontal wavelengths to increase almost linearly with observed period. This trend was particularly well defined around the equinox and can be represented by a power-law relationship of the form λ h = ( 3.1 ± 0.5 ) τ ob 1.06 ± 0.10 , where λ h is measured in kilometers and τob in minutes. This result is in very good agreement with previous radar and passive optical measurements but differs significantly from the relationship λ h ∝ τ105 ob inferred from recent lidar studies. The larger-scale waves were also found to exhibit strong anisotropy in their propagation headings with the dominant direction of motion toward the-NE-ENE suggesting a preponderance for wave generation over the South American continent.
Two-Dimensional Spectral Analysis Of Mesospheric Airglow Image Data, F. J. Garcia, Michael J. Taylor, M. C. Kelley
Two-Dimensional Spectral Analysis Of Mesospheric Airglow Image Data, F. J. Garcia, Michael J. Taylor, M. C. Kelley
All Physics Faculty Publications
A technique to analyze short-period (<1 hour) gravity wave structure in all-sky images of the airglow emissions is described. The technique involves spatial calibration, star removal, geographic projection, regridding, and flat fielding of the data prior to the determination of the horizontal wave parameters (wavelength, velocity, and period), by use of standard two-dimensional Fourier analysis techniques. The method was developed to exploit the information that is now available with wide-field solid state imaging systems. This technique permits interactive and quantitative investigations of large, complex data sets. Such studies are important for investigating gravity wave characteristics, their interaction with the airglow emissions, and their geographic and seasonal variability. We study one event of this type here and present possible evidence of a nonlinear wave–wave interaction in the upper atmosphere.
Numerical Simulations Of Gravity Waves Imaged Over Arecibo During The 10-Day January 1993 Campaign, M. P. Hickey, R. L. Walterscheid, Michael J. Taylor, W. Ward, G. Schubert, Q. Zhou, F. Garcia, M. C. Kelley, G. G. Shepherd
Numerical Simulations Of Gravity Waves Imaged Over Arecibo During The 10-Day January 1993 Campaign, M. P. Hickey, R. L. Walterscheid, Michael J. Taylor, W. Ward, G. Schubert, Q. Zhou, F. Garcia, M. C. Kelley, G. G. Shepherd
All Physics Faculty Publications
Recently, measurements were made of mesospheric gravity waves in the OI (5577 Å) nightglow observed from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, during January 1993 as part of a special 10-day campaign. Clear, monochromatic gravity waves were observed on several nights. By using a full-wave model that realistically includes the major physical processes in this region, we have simulated the propagation of two waves through the mesopause region and calculated the O(1 S) nightglow response to the waves. Mean winds derived from both UARS wind imaging interferometer (WINDII) and Arecibo incoherent scatter radar observations were employed in the computations as were the climatological …