Observations of mesoscale gravity waves in unbalanced flow

The nature of spontaneous, non-orographic gravity wave generation is an unsolved problem in fluid dynamics with important applications to weather forecasting. In this poster, satellite imagery and derived products from GOES are used to identify mesoscale gravity waves emanating from regions of unbalanced dynamics. A suite of diagnostics derived from dynamical theory is tested to elucidate the evolving character of the flow during the period of gravity wave generation and propagation. Applications of the results to the problem of clear air turbulence forecasting are also addressed.

Figure: GOES water vapor and 300 mb divergence calculated from GOES water vapor-derived winds (contours, x 10^-6 s^-1) at 1615 UTC on 22 December 2004. Note the banded mesoscale gravity wave pattern in water vapor across north and central Alabama (center, near the top), just to the north and east of a concentrated area of divergence over south Alabama associated with unbalanced flow. Image created at http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/mesoscale_winds/