1992 Volume 44 Issue 11 Pages 1009-1023
We describe in this paper the height variations of the gravity wave characteristics in the middle atmosphere, using the profiles of wind velocity and temperature collected at 20-90km altitude by means of a series of rocketsonde experiments and the MU (middle and upper atmosphere) radar during the DYANA campaign. The dominant vertical scales of the wind velocity fluctuations generally increased with altitude from 2-3km in the lower stratosphere to 10-15km in the mesosphere. The vertical wavenumber spectra of the wind velocity fluctuations, constructed in five altitude regions, showed height variations in the spectral shape, which was fairly consistent with the model spectrum based upon the saturation of gravity waves. The wind velocity variance due to gravity waves generally increased in the stratosphere, diminished just above the stratopause, greatly increased again in the lower mesosphere, and finally became nearly constant in the upper mesosphere above about 65km. The gravity waves with relatively small vertical scales were significantly weakened just above the stratopause, suggesting the important effect of the vertical structure of the static stability on the propagation characteristics of gravity waves.
