Determining Gravity Wave Sources and Propagation in the Southern Hemisphere by Ray-Tracing AIRS Measurements

Jon A. Perrett; Corwin J. Wright; Neil P. Hindley; Lars Hoffmann; Nicholas J. Mitchell; Peter Preusse; Cornelia Strube; Stephen D. Eckermann

doi:10.1029/2020GL088621

Determining Gravity Wave Sources and Propagation in the Southern Hemisphere by Ray-Tracing AIRS Measurements

Jon A. Perrett, Corwin J. Wright, Neil P. Hindley, Lars Hoffmann, Nicholas J. Mitchell, Peter Preusse, Cornelia Strube, Stephen D. Eckermann

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

15 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Gravity waves (GWs) are key drivers of atmospheric circulation. Understanding their sources and propagation is essential to improving weather and climate models. We apply a 3D Stockwell Transform to 1 month of stratospheric temperature data from NASA's Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder to obtain 3D GW measurements and parameters. We use ray-tracing methods to determine the sources and propagation characteristics of these GWs over the entire Southern Ocean. We trace 1.28 million GW measurements per day for the month of June 2010. Our analysis suggests that ground-based sources around the Andes, Antarctic Peninsula, and Kerguelen play major roles, and that the GWs generated by these and other sources travel large zonal distances. We show evidence that GWs propagate into the 60°S belt, a possible source of “missing momentum flux” in GCMs at this latitude. These results emphasize the need for models to incorporate the possibility that GWs can exhibit large horizontal propagation.

Original language	English
Article number	e2020GL088621
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	48
Issue number	2
Early online date	22 Dec 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088621
Publication status	Published - 28 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
J. A. Perrett is funded by Royal Society grant RGF/EA/180217. C. J. Wright is funded by Royal Society grant UF160545 and NERC grant NE/S00985X/1. C. J Wright, N. P. Hindley, and N. J Mitchell are funded by NERC grant NE/R001391/1. S. D. Eckermann's research was supported by the Chief of Naval Research.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020. The Authors.

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

AIRS
gravity wave
GROGRAT
ray-tracing
Southern Ocean

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
General Earth and Planetary Sciences

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1029/2020GL088621Licence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Determining Gravity Wave Sources and Propagation in the Southern Hemisphere by Ray-Tracing AIRS Measurements",

abstract = "Gravity waves (GWs) are key drivers of atmospheric circulation. Understanding their sources and propagation is essential to improving weather and climate models. We apply a 3D Stockwell Transform to 1 month of stratospheric temperature data from NASA's Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder to obtain 3D GW measurements and parameters. We use ray-tracing methods to determine the sources and propagation characteristics of these GWs over the entire Southern Ocean. We trace 1.28 million GW measurements per day for the month of June 2010. Our analysis suggests that ground-based sources around the Andes, Antarctic Peninsula, and Kerguelen play major roles, and that the GWs generated by these and other sources travel large zonal distances. We show evidence that GWs propagate into the 60°S belt, a possible source of “missing momentum flux” in GCMs at this latitude. These results emphasize the need for models to incorporate the possibility that GWs can exhibit large horizontal propagation.",

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note = "Funding Information: J. A. Perrett is funded by Royal Society grant RGF/EA/180217. C. J. Wright is funded by Royal Society grant UF160545 and NERC grant NE/S00985X/1. C. J Wright, N. P. Hindley, and N. J Mitchell are funded by NERC grant NE/R001391/1. S. D. Eckermann's research was supported by the Chief of Naval Research. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020. The Authors. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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N2 - Gravity waves (GWs) are key drivers of atmospheric circulation. Understanding their sources and propagation is essential to improving weather and climate models. We apply a 3D Stockwell Transform to 1 month of stratospheric temperature data from NASA's Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder to obtain 3D GW measurements and parameters. We use ray-tracing methods to determine the sources and propagation characteristics of these GWs over the entire Southern Ocean. We trace 1.28 million GW measurements per day for the month of June 2010. Our analysis suggests that ground-based sources around the Andes, Antarctic Peninsula, and Kerguelen play major roles, and that the GWs generated by these and other sources travel large zonal distances. We show evidence that GWs propagate into the 60°S belt, a possible source of “missing momentum flux” in GCMs at this latitude. These results emphasize the need for models to incorporate the possibility that GWs can exhibit large horizontal propagation.

AB - Gravity waves (GWs) are key drivers of atmospheric circulation. Understanding their sources and propagation is essential to improving weather and climate models. We apply a 3D Stockwell Transform to 1 month of stratospheric temperature data from NASA's Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder to obtain 3D GW measurements and parameters. We use ray-tracing methods to determine the sources and propagation characteristics of these GWs over the entire Southern Ocean. We trace 1.28 million GW measurements per day for the month of June 2010. Our analysis suggests that ground-based sources around the Andes, Antarctic Peninsula, and Kerguelen play major roles, and that the GWs generated by these and other sources travel large zonal distances. We show evidence that GWs propagate into the 60°S belt, a possible source of “missing momentum flux” in GCMs at this latitude. These results emphasize the need for models to incorporate the possibility that GWs can exhibit large horizontal propagation.

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Determining Gravity Wave Sources and Propagation in the Southern Hemisphere by Ray-Tracing AIRS Measurements

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Planetary and Gravity Waves as Drivers of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

DRAGON-WEX: The Drake Passage and Southern Ocean Wave Experiment

Cite this

Determining Gravity Wave Sources and Propagation in the Southern Hemisphere by Ray-Tracing AIRS Measurements

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Planetary and Gravity Waves as Drivers of Sudden Stratospheric Warmings

DRAGON-WEX: The Drake Passage and Southern Ocean Wave Experiment

Cite this