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An estimate of strong local body forcing and gravity wave radiation based on OH airglow and meteor radar observations
Author(s) -
Fritts David C.,
Vadas Sharon L.,
Yamada Yoshinori
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013753
Subject(s) - mesopause , thermosphere , gravity wave , airglow , physics , mesosphere , forcing (mathematics) , gravitational wave , geophysics , atmospheric sciences , amplitude , meteor (satellite) , flux (metallurgy) , geology , geodesy , ionosphere , meteorology , astrophysics , stratosphere , materials science , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
Airglow measurements of gravity wave and smaller‐scale flow features, used together with other measurements of larger‐scale winds, provide a unique ability to quantify gravity wave dynamics at mesopause altitudes. We consider here an event observed with an OH airglow imager and the meteor radar at the MU Observatory in Japan. This was a wave breaking event of unusually large amplitude and momentum flux. Our hypothesis is that such events are relatively common, and that the resulting local forcing of the mean flow represents a vigorous source of secondary gravity waves that penetrate well into the thermosphere. Our analysis suggests a gravity wave momentum flux of ∼900 m 2 s −2 , far larger than estimated by other techniques, and a mean flow acceleration of ∼80 ms −1 in less than an hour. We also estimate the scales and frequencies of the secondary waves resulting from this local body forcing.