Physics Commons^™

Mysterious Mesospheric Bores Over The South Pole, Christina Solorio

Physics Capstone Projects

Abstract. During the winter‐time, the South Pole lies at the center of the giant Antarctic polar vortex which isolates it from the rest of the world. Over the past four years, USU has successfully operated an infrared camera at the US Amundsen‐Scott South Pole Station to investigate dynamics of atmospheric gravity waves within the vortex. Gravity waves are generated when a force disturbs an air packet and buoyant and gravitational forces in turn cause it to oscillate. While gravity waves in general are ubiquitous in the atmosphere, propagating well into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region (~80‐100 km), one rare …