Gravity waves trapped under the leading anvil of an MCS during BAMEX

A front-fed squall line with leading precipitation was sampled using two aircraft-borne Doppler radars for the Bow Echo and MCV experiment on 31 May 2003. Wind fields produced through dual Doppler synthesis of the radar data show roll features located in the leading stratiform region. Idealized modeling studies have shown similar roll features. The working hypothesis is that internal gravity waves generated by mesoscale heating can become trapped beneath the leading stratiform anvil. Simulations using the WRF model, initialized from observations, provide an alternate higher resolution look at the purported gravity waves. We will present observed soundings, surface pressure traces, and dual-Doppler winds, supplemented by the WRF simulations; the data represent some of the first observational evidence of gravity waves trapped by the leading anvil of a squall line.