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Wind shear rotary spectra in the atmosphere
Author(s) -
Barat Jean,
Cot Charles
Publication year - 1992
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 - 10.1029/92gl00044
Subject(s) - spectral line , stratosphere , wavelength , wind shear , gravity wave , geology , power law , shear (geology) , atmosphere (unit) , atmospheric sciences , wind speed , physics , geodesy , mechanics , geophysics , meteorology , gravitational wave , optics , astrophysics , petrology , astronomy , statistics , mathematics
In this paper we present the first rotary spectra of the horizontal wind shear measured in the stratosphere with a resolution of 25m. A low frequency gravity wave propagating upward with a vertical wavelength of ≈ 1000 m is clearly identified. This result is quite consistent with many previous observations and may explain why the horizontal velocity spectra may be biased and indicates a power variation law versus vertical wave number steeper than those of both temperature and vertical velocity. Nevertheless, around the small vertical wavelengths (100 m), the asymptotic slope of temperature and horizontal velocity spectra are both close to ‐3 and so in better agreement with the saturated model predictions.