Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gardner, C S
• Voelz, D G

Titel

Lidar studies of the nighttime sodium layer over Urbana, Illinois. II -Gravity waves

Ist Teil von

• Journal of Geophysical Research, 1987-05, Vol.92, p.4673-4694

Erscheinungsjahr

1987

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• On 34 nights between December 1980 and May 1986, 171 monochromatic gravity waves were observed in the mesospheric Na layer at Urbana, Illinois, using a lidar system. The characteristics of the waves are compared with radar measurements of gravity wave activity and theoretical models of wave saturation and dissipation phenomena. The measured vertical wavelengths range from 2 km to 17 km, the observed periods range from 25 min to 800 min, and the horizontal wavelengths range from 20 km to almost 3000 km. The most apparent seasonal characteristic of the waves is the absence in summer of periods greater than 200 min and horizontal wavelengths greater than 400 km. (Author)