Submitting Campus

Daytona Beach

Department

Physical Sciences

Document Type

Article

Publication/Presentation Date

6-30-2015

Abstract/Description

"A combination of ray theory and 2-D time-dependent simulations is used to investigate the linear effects of a time-dependent, vertically, and horizontally inhomogeneous background horizontal wind field on the propagation, refraction, and reflection of small-scale gravity wave packets. Interactions between propagating waves of different scales are likely to be numerous and important. We find that a static medium-scale wave wind field of sufficient amplitude can channel and/or critical-level filter a small-scale wave or cause significant reflection, depending upon both waves' parameters. However, the inclusion of a time-dependent phase progression of the medium-scale wave can reduce energy loss through critical-level filtering by up to ∼70% and can also reduce reflection by up to ∼60% for the cases simulated. We also find that the relative direction of propagation between the small-scale and medium-scale wave can significantly affect small-scale wave filtering. When the phases are progressing in the same horizontal direction, the small-scale wave is far more likely to become trapped and ultimately critical-level filtered than if the phases are propagating in opposite horizontal directions unless reflection occurs first. Considerations of time-dependent winds associated with medium-scale-propagating waves and their directionality are important for assessing the propagation and dispersion of small-scale waves over large horizontal distances."--From publisher's website.

Publication Title

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JD023505

Publisher

American Geophysical Union

Grant or Award Name

NSF grants AGS-1151746 and AGS-1344356

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