A Case Study of a Mesoscale Gravity Wave in the MLT Region Using Simultaneous Multi-instruments in Beijing

Abstract:

In this work, we used observational data from an all-sky airglow imager at Xinglong (40.2°N, 117.4°E), a sodium lidar at Yanqing (40.4°N, 116.0°E) and a meteor radar at Shisanling (40.3°N, 116.2°E) to study the propagation of a mesoscale gravity wave. During the night of March 1, 2011, the imager identified a mesoscale gravity wave structure in the OH airglow that had a wave period of 2 hours, propagated along an azimuthal direction (clockwise) with an angle of 163° , a phase speed of 73 m/s, and a horizontal wavelength of 566 km. Simultaneous measurements provided by the sodium lidar also showed a perturbation in the sodium layer with a 2-hour period. Based on the SABER/TIMED and radar data, we estimated that the momentum flux and the energy flux of the gravity wave were approximately 0.61 m²/s² and 0.22 mW/m², respectively. Ray-tracing analysis showed that the gravity wave was likely generated in the northwest of Lake Baikal owing to the existence of a jet- front system in the upper troposphere at that time.