scholarly journals Seasonal variation of short-period (<2 h) gravity wave activity over Gadanki, India (13.5°N, 79.2°E)

2008 ◽  
Vol 113 (D14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopa Dutta ◽  
Toshitaka Tsuda ◽  
P. Vinay Kumar ◽  
M. C. Ajay Kumar ◽  
Simon P. Alexander ◽  
...  
2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 3253-3268 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. Hooper ◽  
J. Nash ◽  
T. Oakley ◽  
M. Turp

Abstract. This paper describes a new signal processing scheme for the 46.5 MHz Doppler Beam Swinging wind-profiling radar at Aberystwyth, in the UK. Although the techniques used are similar to those already described in literature – i.e. the identification of multiple signal components within each spectrum and the use of radial- and time-continuity algorithms for quality-control purposes – it is shown that they must be adapted for the specific meteorological environment above Aberystwyth. In particular they need to take into account the three primary causes of unwanted signals: ground clutter, interference, and Rayleigh scatter from hydrometeors under stratiform precipitation conditions. Attention is also paid to the fact that short-period gravity-wave activity can lead to an invalidation of the fundamental assumption of the wind field remaining stationary over the temporal and spatial scales encompassed by a cycle of observation. Methods of identifying and accounting for such conditions are described. The random measurement error associated with horizontal wind components is estimated to be 3.0–4.0 m s−1 for single cycle data. This reduces to 2.0–3.0 m s−1 for data averaged over 30 min. The random measurement error associated with vertical wind components is estimated to be 0.2–0.3 m s−1. This cannot be reduced by time-averaging as significant natural variability is expected over intervals of just a few minutes under conditions of short-period gravity-wave activity.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1019-1025 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. N. Sasi ◽  
L. Vijayan

Abstract. Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates (ε) and eddy diffusion coefficients (Kz) in the tropical mesosphere over Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), estimated from Doppler widths of MST radar echoes (vertical beam), observed over a 3-year period, show a seasonal variation with a dominant summer maximum. The observed seasonal variation of ε and Kz in the mesosphere is only partially consistent with that of gravity wave activity inferred from mesospheric winds and temperatures measured by rockets for a period of 9 years at Trivandrum (8.5° N, 77° E) (which shows two equinox and one summer maxima) lying close to Gadanki. The summer maximum of mesospheric ε and Kz values appears to be related to the enhanced gravity wave activity over the low-latitude Indian subcontinent during the southwest monsoon period (June – September). Both ε and Kz in the mesosphere over Gadanki show an increase with an increase in height during all seasons. The absolute values of observed ε and Kz in the mesosphere (above ~80 km) does not show significant differences from those reported for high latitudes. Comparison of observed Kz values during the winter above Gadanki with those over Arecibo (18.5° N, 66° W) shows that they are not significantly different from each other above the ~80 km altitude.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; tropical meteorology; wave and tides)


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 3237-3260 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. V. Subba Reddy ◽  
D. Narayana Rao ◽  
A. Narendra Babu ◽  
M. Venkat Ratnam ◽  
P. Kishore ◽  
...  

Abstract. MST radars are powerful tools to study the mesosphere, stratosphere and troposphere and have made considerable contributions to the studies of the dynamics of the upper, middle and lower atmosphere. Atmospheric gravity waves play a significant role in controlling middle and upper atmospheric dynamics. To date, frontal systems, convection, wind shear and topography have been thought to be the sources of gravity waves in the troposphere. All these studies pointed out that it is very essential to understand the generation, propagation and climatology of gravity waves. In this regard, several campaigns using Indian MST Radar observations have been carried out to explore the gravity wave activity over Gadanki in the troposphere and the lower stratosphere. The signatures of the gravity waves in the wind fields have been studied in four seasons viz., summer, monsoon, post-monsoon and winter. The large wind fluctuations were more prominent above 10 km during the summer and monsoon seasons. The wave periods are ranging from 10 min-175 min. The power spectral densities of gravity waves are found to be maximum in the stratospheric region. The vertical wavelength and the propagation direction of gravity waves were determined using hodograph analysis. The results show both down ward and upward propagating waves with a maximum vertical wave length of 3.3 km. The gravity wave associated momentum fluxes show that long period gravity waves carry more momentum flux than the short period waves and this is presented.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 2471-2480 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Ramkumar ◽  
T. M. Antonita ◽  
Y. Bhavani Kumar ◽  
H. Venkata Kumar ◽  
D. Narayana Rao

Abstract. Altitude profiles of temperature in the stratospheric and mesopheric region from lidar observations at NARL, Gadanki, India, during December 2002–April 2005, as part of ISRO's Middle Atmospheric Dynamics – "MIDAS (2002–2005)" program are used to study the characteristics of gravity waves and their seasonal variation. Month-to-month variation of the gravity wave activity observed during the period of December 2002–April 2005 show maximum wave activity, with primary peaks in May 2003, August 2004 and March 2005 and secondary peaks in February 2003 and November 2004. This month-to-month variation in gravity wave activity is linked to the variation in the strength of the sources, viz. convection and wind shear, down below at the tropospheric region, estimated from MST radar measurements at the same location. Horizontal wind shear is found to be mostly correlated with wave activity than convection, and sometimes both sources are found to contribute towards the wave activity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Takeru Yamada ◽  
Takeshi Imamura ◽  
Tetsuya Fukuhara ◽  
Makoto Taguchi

AbstractThe reason for stationary gravity waves at Venus’ cloud top to appear mostly at low latitudes in the afternoon is not understood. Since a neutral layer exists in the lower part of the cloud layer, the waves should be affected by the neutral layer before reaching the cloud top. To what extent gravity waves can propagate vertically through the neutral layer has been unclear. To examine the possibility that the variation of the neutral layer thickness is responsible for the dependence of the gravity wave activity on the latitude and the local time, we investigated the sensitivity of the vertical propagation of gravity waves on the neutral layer thickness using a numerical model. The results showed that stationary gravity waves with zonal wavelengths longer than 1000 km can propagate to the cloud-top level without notable attenuation in the neutral layer with realistic thicknesses of 5–15 km. This suggests that the observed latitudinal and local time variation of the gravity wave activity should be attributed to processes below the cloud. An analytical approach also showed that gravity waves with horizontal wavelengths shorter than tens of kilometers would be strongly attenuated in the neutral layer; such waves should originate in the altitude region above the neutral layer.


2012 ◽  
Vol 117 (D5) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Nielsen ◽  
M. J. Taylor ◽  
R. E. Hibbins ◽  
M. J. Jarvis ◽  
J. M. Russell

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