All Physics Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Volume
121
Issue
15
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Publication Date
8-16-2016
First Page
8896
Last Page
8912
Abstract
On 23 March 2012, our all-sky imager recorded a concentric, ring-like gravity wave pattern. The wave arose within the area covered by images of both OH and O(1S) nightglow emissions taken at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO), Chile (30.3ÁS, 70.7ÁW). We have estimated the observed and intrinsic parameters of the event and located the wave source within the lower mesosphere altitude range using a reverse ray tracing method. By the analysis of GOES and LIS satellite images, we have not found evidence of neither convective nor lightning activity nearby ALO, indicating that the source of the ring-like wave was not directly in the troposphere. The absence of tropospheric activity and the height of the source of the event suggest that a secondary wave generation mechanism might be the cause of the ring-like wave. The secondary wave mechanism was likely triggered by a breaking, larger-scale primary wave excited by deep convection _1400ækm northeast of ALO over Bolivia, as determined by a forward ray tracing scheme. ©2016. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Recommended Citation
Vargas F., Swenson G., Liu A., and Pautet P.-D., Evidence of the excitation of a ring-like gravity wave in the mesosphere over the Andes Lidar Observatory, J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 121, doi:10.1002/2016JD024799, 2016
