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Investigation Of A "Wall" Wave Event, F. Li, G. R. Swenson, A. Z. Liu, Michael J. Taylor, Y. Zhao

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A bright airglow event was observed at Maui, Hawaii, on the night of 11–12 August 2004 with multiple instruments including a Na wind/temperature lidar, an airglow imager, and a mesospheric temperature mapper. The characteristics of this event were investigated with measurements from these instruments. Analysis showed that this event was caused by a large-amplitude, upward-propagating gravity wave with a period of about 4–5 hours and a vertical wavelength of about 20 km, i.e., a ‘‘wall’’ wave. This wall wave induced dramatic changes in temperature (60 K), airglow intensity (doubled in the OH and tripled in the O2 emissions), and Na …