Wind-profiler observations of gravity waves produced by convection at mid-latitudes

[摘要] This work presents a case study which includes regions of large rapidlyvarying vertical velocities observed by a VHF wind-profiler at Aberystwyth(52.4° N, 4.1° W). Analysis indicates that this region isassociated with gravity waves above the tropopause level and simultaneousregions of convective activity below the tropopause level. This case studyalso suggests that convective activity can be identified effectively byfinding periods of large uncertainties on the derived velocities. Theseregions are hypothesized to be related to regions of small-scaleinhomogeneity in the wind field.Examination suggests that the large vertical velocity fluctuations abovethese convective regions are short period gravity wave packets as expectedfrom theory. In addition the vertical flux of the horizontal momentumassociated with the gravity waves also displays the pattern of reversalobserved in previous studies.

[学科分类] 大气科学