Mountain, or lee waves are caused when air flows over mountain ridges within a stably stratified atmosphere. Turbulence generated by mountain waves can be an aviation hazard due to strong vertical motions generated by these oscillating air currents. Satellite water vapor imagery has indicated the presence of wave structures over and downwind of mountain ranges. Research has been conducted to categorize the wave structure by using frequency of pilot turbulence reports, often occurring within cloud-free atmosphere. The reports of severe turbulence were associated with complex water vapor patterns, the appearance of interference or crossing wave fronts that extended downwind from the mountain ridge for a significant distance. The events that were less turbulent, as reported by pilots, had wave signatures with simpler patterns such as linear features orthogonal to the wind flow oriented parallel to one another. Synthetic MODIS 6.7 um water vapor imagery was derived from Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model thermodynamic fields to examine the NWP-simulated satellite imagery fidelity versus MODIS water vapor imagery. The presentation will show water vapor structure classification results, NWP simulated water vapor comparisons, and objective quantification techniques for detecting water vapor structures coincident with observations of mountain wave turbulence.