A Climatology of Ripple Instabilities in the OH Airglow at Cerro Pachon, Chile

Abstract:

Airglow imaging provides a unique means by which to study many wave-related phenomena in the 80 to 100 km altitude regime. Observations reveal quasi-monochromatic disturbances associated with atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) as well as small-scale instabilities often called ripples. Ripples are wavelike features that resemble AGWs in appearance, but have short horizontal wavelengths (<15 km) and short lifetimes (a few tens of minutes). The end product of the breakdown of ripples is turbulence, leading to increased eddy diffusion. Thus, ripple observations may help refine our understanding of the occurrence of turbulence in the upper Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere.

The Aerospace Corporation's Nightglow Imager (ANI) is located at the Andes Lidar Observatory near the crest of Cerro Pachon, Chile. ANI observes nighttime OH emission (near 1.6 microns) every 2 seconds over an approximate 73 degree field of view, which allows the study of AGW and ripple features over very short temporal and spatial scales. An automated wave detection algorithm is used to identify ripple and quasi monochromatic wave features in the ANI data. Ripples are characterized by their wavelength, orientation, drift speed and location in the image. Quasi-monochromatic waves are quantified by wavelength, wave period and propagation direction. We present a climatology of ripple instabilities at Chile, including comparisons to the background quasi-monochromatic wave field. Lidar and radar data are used to determine the background wind and temperatures, which allows comparisons between ripple observations and evanescent regions and potentially unstable regions identified by Richardson number.