Submitting Campus
Daytona Beach
Department
Physical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication/Presentation Date
3-23-2007
Abstract/Description
Multiwavelength airglow image data depicting a short-period (∼4.9 min) atmospheric gravity wave characterized by a sharp leading front have been analyzed together with synoptic meteor radar wind data recorded simultaneously from Bear Lake Observatory, Utah (41.6°N, 111.6°W). The wind data suggest the presence of a semidiurnal tide with horizontal winds peaking at around 60 m/s along the SSE direction of motion (170° from north) of this short-period wave. It was found that the gravity wave was most probably ducted because of the Doppler shift imposed by this wind structure. A marked 180° phase shift was observed between the near-infrared OH and the OI (557.7 nm) emissions. Numerical simulation results for similar ducted waves excited by idealized model sources suggest that the phase shift between the wave-modulated airglow intensities may be explained simply by chemical processes rather than by wave dynamics. Phase velocities of simulated waves, however, appear higher than those of observed waves, suggesting the importance of tidal thermal structure in determining the Doppler-ducted wave characteristics.
Publication Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JA011895
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Grant or Award Name
NSF ATM-04-37140 grant, NASA TIMED satellite (grants ATM-0000959 and NNG04GA13G)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Snively, J. B., V. P. Pasko, M. J. Taylor, and W. K. Hocking (2007), Doppler ducting of short-period gravity waves by midlatitude tidal wind structure, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A03304, doi:10.1029/2006JA011895
Additional Information
Dr. Snively was not affiliated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the time this paper was published.