Mesospheric gravity waves and their sources at the South Pole

• Main Authors: Mehta, Dhvanit, Gerrard, Andrew J., Ebihara, Yusuke, Weatherwax, Allan T., Lanzerotti, Louis J.
• Other Authors: 海老原, 祐輔
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: European Geosciences Union (EGU) 2016
• Subjects: Austral; South Pole; Amundsen-Scott; Amundsen Scott South Pole Station; Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2433/216396

The sourcing locations and mechanisms for short period, long vertical wavelength upward-propagating gravity waves at high polar latitudes remain largely unknown. Using all-sky imager data from the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station we determine the spatial and temporal characteristics of 94 observed small-scale waves in three austral winter months in 2003 and 2004. These data, together with background atmospheres from synoptic and/or climatological empirical models, are used to model gravity wave propagation from the polar mesosphere to each wave's source using a ray-tracing model. Our results provide a compelling case that a significant proportion of the observed waves are launched in several discrete layers in the tropopause and/or stratosphere. Analyses of synoptic geopotentials and temperatures indicate that wave formation is a result of baroclinic instability processes in the stratosphere and the interaction of planetary waves with the background wind fields in the tropopause. These results are significant for defining the influences of the polar vortex on the production of these small-scale, upward propagating gravity waves at the highest polar latitudes.