Date of Award
5-2015
Access Type
Thesis - Open Access
Degree Name
Master of Science in Engineering Physics
Department
Physical Sciences
Committee Chair
Dr. Alan Z. Liu
First Committee Member
Dr. Tao Li
Second Committee Member
Dr. John M. Hughes
Third Committee Member
Dr. Edwin J. Mierkiewicz
Fourth Committee Member
Dr. Jonathan B. Snively
Abstract
An image processing algorithm has been developed to analyze data from a NIR All-Sky Imager of OH airglow emission (from about 87 km altitude), located in the Andes, with the purpose of investigating the atmospheric gravity waves generated when low level wind blows over the high mountains (referred to as Mountain Waves). These types of waves are a special case of atmospheric gravity waves, which carry significant momentum and exert strong forcing to the background upper atmosphere. The imager is located at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) at Cerro Pachón, Chile (30°S, 71°W), which also houses a Na Doppler Lidar and other passive optical instruments. This thesis work reports the successful identification of numerous strong mountain wave events during the austral winters (2010 - 2014) when low level horizontal winds are eastward and exceed 40 m/s. These events span hundreds of kilometers in the night sky with average wavelengths of 20 to 40 km. A database of high resolution videos and statistics on the wave parameters has been produced. Additionally, an airglow imager simulation model has been built for testing the image processing algorithm.
Scholarly Commons Citation
Guerrero, Jaime Aguilar, "Investigation of Mountain Waves in the Mesosphere over the Andes Mountains" (2015). Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses. 195.
https://commons.erau.edu/edt/195