Internal Gravity Wave Induced by the Queen Charlotte Event (27 October 2012, Mw 7.8): Airglow Observation and Modeling.

Abstract:

The detection of the tsunami related internal gravity waves (IGW_tsuna) by airglow camera has been recently validated by observation (Makela et al., 2011) and modeling (Occhipinti et al., 2011) in the case of the Tohoku event (11 March 2011, Mw 9.0). The airglow is measuring the photon emission at 630 nm, indirectly linked to the plasma density of O₂⁺ (Link & Cogger, 1988) and it is commonly used to detect transient event in the ionosphere (Kelley et al., 2002, Makela et al., 2009, Miller et al., 2009). The modeling of the IGW_tsuna clearly reproduced the pattern of the airglow measurement observed over Hawaii and the comparison between the observation and the modeling allows to recognize the wave form and allow to explain the IGW_tsuna arriving before the tsunami wavefront at the sea level (Occhipinti et al., 2011). Approaching the Hawaiian archipelagos the tsunami propagation is slowed down (reduction of the sea depth), instead, the IGW_tsuna, propagating in the atmosphere/ionosphere, conserves its speed. In this work, we present the modeling of the new airglow observation following the Queen Charlotte event (27 October 2012, Mw 7.8) that has been recently detected, proving that the technique can be generalized for smaller events. Additionally, the effect of the wind on the IGW_tsuna, already evocated in the past, is included in the modeling to better reproduce the airglow observations.

All ref. here @ www.ipgp.fr/~ninto