Observations of Stratospheric Gravity Waves Over Europe on 12 January 2016: The Role of the Polar Night Jet

Observations during 12 January 2016 revealed a series of events of significant gravity wave (GW) activity over Europe. Analysis of derived temperatures from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) provides insight into the sources of these GWs, and include a new observation of stratosphere polar nig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Main Authors: Bossert, Katrina, Vadas, Sharon L., Hoffmann, Lars, Becker, Erich, Harvey, V. Lynn, Bramberger, Martina
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2020
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Online Access:https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/885826
https://juser.fz-juelich.de/search?p=id:%22FZJ-2020-04117%22
Description
Summary:Observations during 12 January 2016 revealed a series of events of significant gravity wave (GW) activity over Europe. Analysis of derived temperatures from the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) provides insight into the sources of these GWs, and include a new observation of stratosphere polar night jet (PNJ) generated GWs. Mountain waves were present during this time as well over the French Alps and the Carpathian Mountains, and had maximum temperature perturbations, T’, as large as 27K over the French Alps. Further investigation of the mountain waves demonstrated their presence in the stratosphere was not only determined by stratospheric conditions, but also by strong winds in the troposphere and at the surface. GWs generated in the stratosphere by the PNJ had maximum T’ of 7K. These observations demonstrate multiple sources of GWs during a dynamically active period, and implicate the role of the PNJ in both the vertical propagation of GWs generated in the troposphere and the generation of GWs from the PNJ itself.