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Radiosonde observations of gravity waves in the lower stratosphere over Davis, Antarctica
Citation
Murphy, DJ and Alexander, SP and Klekociuk, AR and Love, PT and Vincent, RA, Radiosonde observations of gravity waves in the lower stratosphere over Davis, Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 119, (21) pp. 11,973-11,996. ISSN 2169-897X (2014) [Refereed Article]
 | PDF (JGR Atmospheres DOI:10.1002/2014JD022448) 3Mb |
Copyright Statement
©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
Radiosonde observations made from Davis station, Antarctica, (68.6°S, 78.0°E) between 2001 and 2012 are used to compile a climatology of lower stratosphere inertial gravity wave characteristics. Wavelet analysis extracts single wave packets from the wind and temperature perturbations. Wavelet parameters, combined with linear gravity wave theory, allow for the derivation of a wide range of wave characteristics. Observational filtering associated with this analysis preferentially selects inertial gravity waves with vertical wavelengths less than 2–3 km. The vertical propagation statistics show strong temporal and height variations. The waves propagate close to the horizontal and are strongly advected by the background wind in the wintertime. Notably, around half of the waves observed in the stratosphere above Davis between early May and mid-October propagate downward. This feature is distributed over the observed stratospheric height range. Based on the similarity between the upward and downward propagating waves and on the vertical structure of the nonlinear balance residual in the polar winter stratosphere, it is concluded that a source due to imbalanced flow that is distributed across the winter lower stratosphere best explains the observations. Calculations of kinetic and potential energies and momentum fluxes highlight the potential for variations in results due to different analysis techniques.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | gravity waves, radiosonde, lower stratosphere |
| Research Division: | Earth Sciences |
| Research Group: | Atmospheric sciences |
| Research Field: | Atmospheric dynamics |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Air quality, atmosphere and weather |
| Objective Field: | Atmospheric processes and dynamics |
| UTAS Author: | Love, PT (Dr Peter Love) |
| ID Code: | 121594 |
| Year Published: | 2014 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 39 |
| Deposited By: | CRC-Antarctic Climate & Ecosystems |
| Deposited On: | 2017-10-04 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-11-10 |
| Downloads: | 101 View Download Statistics |
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