Observations of an internal gravity wave in the lower troposphere at Halley, Antarctica

King, John C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3315-7568; Mobbs, S.D.; Darby, M.S.; Rees, J.M.. 1987 Observations of an internal gravity wave in the lower troposphere at Halley, Antarctica. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 39 (1-2). 1-13. 10.1007/BF00121862

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00121862

Abstract/Summary

Observations of internal gravity waves in the stably-stratified atmospheric boundary layer at Halley, Antarctica are presented. These were made on 1 February, 1986 and take the form of temperature measurements from a 30 m mast and a Sodar record. The temperature record shows a clearly defined, dominant wave period of around 11 min. A high-resolution radiosonde ascent made during the period of wave activity exhibits thin layers of low Richardson number and it is suggested that these are regions of dynamic instability where the waves are generated. A linear stability analysis of the radiosonde data supports this idea. It is argued from simple theoretical ideas and by means of a numerical model that only waves with a wavelength greater than a certain critical value are likely to be observed at the surface. The observations are shown to be consistent with this hypothesis.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/BF00121862
ISSN:	0006-8314
Additional Keywords:	boundary layer, mast, linear stability, atmospheric boundary layer, wave period
Date made live:	04 Apr 2019 11:00 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522795

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1007/BF00121862

ISSN:

0006-8314

Additional Keywords:

boundary layer, mast, linear stability, atmospheric boundary layer, wave period

Date made live:

04 Apr 2019 11:00 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/522795