Topside observation of gravity waves

Abstract

The AEPI (Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imager) experiment on the ATLAS‐1 shuttle mission (launched March 24, 1992) imaged the earth night airglow emission in the O2 Atmospheric (0,0) bands, at 762.0 nm. Earthward views of O2 A bands show structure from gravity waves which exhibit extended horizontal structure with horizontal wavelengths on the order of 50–100 km. These observations of the O2 A (0,0) bands are particularly interesting since in this wavelength the lower atmosphere absorbs all the earth‐reflected emissions and most of the spectrally diffuse backgrounds. Herein we present observations of gravity waves using a topside airglow imaging technique.

An emission layer as a gravity wave detector

“…As a result, the O 2 (0,0) atmospheric band at 762 nm is considered as the primary candidate for spacecraft measurement of gravity wave modulated intense airglow emissions, because the high concentration of O 2 in the lower atmosphere absorbs the re-scattered emission from the earth surface (Mende et al, 1994). This is a critical advantage in downward viewing observations because the large non-uniformity in the earth albedo could dominate the image modulations.…”

“…Within the past two decades, satellite measurements have detected gravity waves through their effects on airglow (Swenson et al, 1989;Ross et al, 1992;Mende et al, 1994;Hecht et al, 1994;Dewan et al, 1998;Mende et al, 1998). As a result, the O 2 (0,0) atmospheric band at 762 nm is considered as the primary candidate for spacecraft measurement of gravity wave modulated intense airglow emissions, because the high concentration of O 2 in the lower atmosphere absorbs the re-scattered emission from the earth surface (Mende et al, 1994).…”

Suomi satellite brings to light a unique frontier of nighttime environmental sensing capabilities

“…Regionally, the emissions produce complex transient banding or patch-like structures associated with planetary waves (23) and mesospheric tides (24,25). At finer spatial scales, emission features are associated with ionospheric disturbances forced by atmospheric gravity waves (26,27). The observed structures have been tied to tropospheric convection and seismic activity, with the latter proposed as a means for early detection of tsunamis (28).…”

Multiwavelength imaging photometer for the topside observation of gravity waves

“…The wave structures are clearly visible, longer waves slanting downwards from left to right and some short wave 7-8 km structures on the left of the image appearing to be almost vertical. 3 The 02 atmospheric (0,1) band part of the b1 +g X3g system is another ground observable molecular emission from the mesopause region, which also exhibits wave modulated intensity fluctuations. Part of the same system is the much brighter molecular airglow emission, the 02(0,0) A band at 762 nm.…”