Deepwave2014; Observing Gravity Waves from the Troposphere to the Mesosphere

The recent Deepwave field project in New Zealand ran from May 25 to July 28, 2014. Its objectives were to observe, understand and predict the deep propagation of gravity waves from the Troposphere into the Stratosphere, Mesosphere and Thermosphere. In addition to surface and satellite-borne sensors, the project used two research aircraft with airborne sensors; the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) and the German DLR Falcon. The GV was uniquely instrumented to observe wave launching (dropsondes), waves properties in the low stratosphere (flight level winds, pressure and temperature), waves in the middle stratosphere (MTP and Rayleigh Lidar) and waves near the mesopause (Sodium Lidar and OH IR mapper). In this report, we describe GV flight level wave energy flux statistics from the 97 aircraft legs (49.1 hours) over the terrain of New Zealand and the 157 aircraft legs (84.3 hours) over the Southern Ocean. For example, the vertical energy flux at Z=12km for the terrain flights varied from zero to 27 W/m2 with an average value of about 4W/m2. Wavelet co-spectral analysis of flight level data is used to determine the dominant location and wavelength of the flux-carrying gravity waves. Dominant horizontal wavelengths for the flux-carrying waves over terrain varied from 30 to 200km. Using a high resolution WRF simulation, the various mechanisms for the decrease of energy flux with height are examined including dissipation, dispersion, refraction, reflection and secondary wave generation.