Evidence of damping and overturning of gravity waves in the Arctic mesosphere: Na lidar and OH temperature observations

Collins, R. L.; Smith, Roger W.

doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2004.01.038

Cited by 25 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…There are oscillations of similar period in the relative density fluctuations derived from the Rayleigh lidar observations. The sodium layer also shows overturning in sodium concentrations (e.g., ∼81 km at 21:00 LST), consistent with the passage of large amplitude and/or breaking gravity waves (e.g., Hecht et al, 1997Hecht et al, , 2000Collins and Smith, 2004;Xu et al, 2006).…”

Section: Mesospheric Sodium Layermentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Resonance lidar measurements of the mesospheric sodium layer have been made at Chatanika on an ongoing basis since 1995 Collins and Smith, 2004). The configuration of the resonance lidar during the Turbopause experiment differed from that reported by Collins and Smith (2004).…”

Section: Resonance Lidarmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The configuration of the resonance lidar during the Turbopause experiment differed from that reported by Collins and Smith (2004). For this experiment we replaced the 0.35 m diameter telescope with a 1.04 m diameter telescope, and we replaced the flashlamp-pumped dye laser with an excimer-pumped dye laser.…”

Section: Resonance Lidarmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimates of vertical eddy diffusivity in the upper mesosphere in the presence of a mesospheric inversion layer

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Rayleigh and resonance lidar observations were made during the Turbopause experiment at Poker Flat Research Range, Chatanika Alaska (65 • N, 147 • W) over a 10 h period on the night of 17-18 February 2009. The lidar observations revealed the presence of a strong mesospheric inversion layer (MIL) at 74 km that formed during the observations and was present for over 6 h. The MIL had a maximum temperature of 251 K, amplitude of 27 ± 7 K, a depth of 3.0 km, and overlying lapse rate of 9.4 ± 0.3 K km −1 . The MIL was located at the lower edge of the mesospheric sodium layer. During this coincidence the lower edge of the sodium layer was lowered by 2 km to 74 km and the bottomside scale height of the sodium increased from 1 km to 15 km. The structure of the MIL and sodium are analyzed in terms of vertical diffusive transport. The analysis yields a lower bound for the eddy diffusion coefficient of 430 m 2 s −1 and the energy dissipation rate of 2.2 mW kg −1 at 76-77 km. This value of the eddy diffusion coefficient, determined from naturally occurring variations in mesospheric temperatures and the sodium layer, is significantly larger than those reported for mean winter values in the Arctic but similar to individual values reported in regions of convective instability by other techniques.

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Section: Mesospheric Sodium Layermentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Resonance Lidarmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimates of vertical eddy diffusivity in the upper mesosphere in the presence of a mesospheric inversion layer

et al. 2011

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“…The resonance lidar at Poker Flat Research Range provided measurements of the mesospheric sodium profiles from 70 to 120 km with 15 min integration (Collins and Smith, 2004). Overturning of sodium density surfaces has been observed occasionally throughout the layer and suggests the presence of instability and turbulence (see also Larsen et al, 2004).…”

Section: Ground-based Measurements and Launch Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Very few sequences of high resolution wind and temperature measurements in the lower thermosphere are available in the literature, which makes it difficult to verify the simulation results of models that would provide better understanding of the complex dynamics of the region. To address this problem the Turbopause experiment used four rockets launched over a period of approximately two hours from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (64 • N, 147 • W) on the night of 17-18 February 2009. All four rocket payloads released trimethyl aluminum trails for neutral wind and turbulence measurements, and two of the rockets carried ionization gauges and fixed-bias Langmuir probes measuring neutral and electron densities, small-scale fluctuations and neutral temperatures. Two lidars monitored temperature structure and sodium densities. The observations were made under quiet geomagnetic conditions and show persistence in the wind magnitudes and shears throughout the observing period while being modulated by inertia-gravity waves. High resolution temperature profiles show the winter polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere in a state of relatively low stability with several quasi-adiabatic layers between 74 and 103 km. Temperature and wind data were combined to calculate Richardson number profiles. Evidence for turbulence comes from simultaneous observations of density fluctuations and downward transport of sodium in a mixed layer near 75 km; the observation of turbulent fluctuations and energy dissipation from 87-90 km; and fast and irregular trail expansion at 90-93 km, and especially between 95 to 103 km. The regions of turbulent trails agree well with regions of quasi-adiabatic temperature gradients. Above Correspondence to: G. A. Lehmacher (glehmac@clemson.edu) 103 km, trail diffusion was mainly laminar; however, unusual features and vortices in the trail diffusion were observed up to 118 km that have not been as prevalent or as clearly evident in earlier trail releases.

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“…Lomb spectra for zonal wind (solid) and temperature (dash) residual and dotted line indicating a -5/3 slope. Collins and Smith (2004) report damping of long-period gravity waves measured by sodium lidar and OH spectrometer over Alaska by convective instabilities likely produced by the superposition of long and short period waves.…”

Section: Gravity Wavesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Gravity wave propagation through a large semidiurnal tide and instabilities in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere during the winter 2003 MaCWAVE rocket campaign

et al. 2006

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Abstract. The winter MaCWAVE (Mountain and convective waves ascending vertically) rocket campaign took place in January 2003 at Esrange, Sweden and the ALOMAR observatory in Andenes, Norway. The campaign combined balloon, lidar, radar, and rocket measurements to produce full temperature and wind profiles from the ground to 105 km. This paper will investigate gravity wave propagation in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere using data from the Weber sodium lidar on 28-29 January 2003. A very large semidiurnal tide was present in the zonal wind above 80 km that grew to a 90 m/s amplitude at 100 km. The superposition of smaller-scale gravity waves and the tide caused small regions of possible convective or shear instabilities to form along the downward progressing phase fronts of the tide. The gravity waves had periods ranging from the Nyquist period of 30 min up to 4 h, vertical wavelengths ranging from 7 km to more than 20 km, and the frequency spectra had the expected -5/3 slope. The dominant gravity waves had long vertical wavelengths and experienced rapid downward phase progression. The gravity wave variance grew exponentially with height up from 86 to 94 km, consistent with the measured scale height, suggesting that the waves were not dissipated strongly by the tidal gradients and resulting unstable regions in this altitude range.

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Evidence of damping and overturning of gravity waves in the Arctic mesosphere: Na lidar and OH temperature observations

Cited by 25 publications

References 40 publications

Estimates of vertical eddy diffusivity in the upper mesosphere in the presence of a mesospheric inversion layer

Estimates of vertical eddy diffusivity in the upper mesosphere in the presence of a mesospheric inversion layer

The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

Gravity wave propagation through a large semidiurnal tide and instabilities in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere during the winter 2003 MaCWAVE rocket campaign

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