The propagation of planetary-scale waves into the upper atmosphere

• Main Author: Schoeberl, Mark Robin
• Other Authors: Bowhill, S.A.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: 1976
• Subjects: planetary scale waves; upper atmosphere; propagation of planetary scale waves; Laplace's tidal equation; quasi-analytic solutions; polar night
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/25671

An equation governing the propagation of planetary scale waves in the earth's atmosphere is derived by scaling a generalized form of Laplace's tidal equation. Quasi-analytic solutions to the propagation equation are obtained for certain model atmospheres in terms of approximate Hough functions and other special functions. These solutions are seen to be equivalent to solutions obtained by other authors for p1anetary waves propagating on a 8 plane. Numerical solutions to the propagation equation are also obtained using January and July mean-zonal wind models for the Northern Hemisphere for the regions between 15 km and 100 km. The results show that the vertical structure of planetary scale waves is strongly dependent on the strength of the polar night jet in winter and upon the magnitude of the photochemical and radiative dissipation parameters in the stratosphere. Calculated amplitudes and phases of planetary waves are found to be in good agreement with observations at 50N. The numerical results are interpreted in terms of the quasi-analytic solutions previously obtained. It is also found that stationary planetary scale waves may theoretically transport large amounts of heat from the equatorial mesosphere to the polar -1 mesosphere in winter producing heating rates as large as BK day poleward of 50N under certain circumstances. The possibility of nitric oxide transport by planetary scale waves in connection with the winter anomaly is also discussed.