Shayne Jacopian
RedOrbit
Tue, 12 May 2015 00:49 UTC


Hanli Liu, NCAR
A model simulation illustrates how gravity waves kicked off by a cyclone east of Australia build as they travel toward space.


Whether it's a drunk camper diving carelessly into a river, or a mass of air rising over a mountain, the rule is the same: What goes up must come down.

With respect to the latter, the rising and falling of air also generates gravity waves. While such atmospheric changes usually only have a regional impact on the lower atmosphere, these ripples can stretch all across the globe in the upper atmosphere and their impact is far more dramatic.

For the first time, researchers have found a way to observe what happens when gravity waves rise towards into the upper atmosphere. A team of researchers at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research led by Senior Scientist Hanli Liu improved upon the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, pushing it to a resolution fine enough to pick up small gravity waves at their source.

Previously able to clearly view only phenomena that were 2,000 kilometers across, they are now able to view gravity waves when they are still relatively small (only 200 kilometers across) and accurately model how this activity appears later in the upper atmosphere.


I sense a disturbance in the force

And since disturbances in the upper atmosphere (usually attributed to solar activity) are what can damage satellites, shut down radio transmissions, skew GPS signals, and in this high-tech day and age basically just ruin your entire day, modeling like this is exactly what we need to understand the Earth's role in these disturbances.

"When gravity waves propagate to the bottom side of the ionosphere, they can kick off instabilities," Liu said. "If you want to have a better understanding of space weather "the ionosphere" you need this kind of modeling capability."

short video here"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SqMCIKV364

Somethings wrong there. So far as I can find anywhere, we still can't detect gravity waves. I understand that this is a simulation, but nevertheless, I'm confused about the flat out statement in the article that gravity waves are created by atmospheric conditions. That makes no sense, since gravity is supposed to be linked to mass, and not blown by the wind.

Any idea what they are really talking about? Very confusing.

i guess they're saying that the cyclone made the gravity waves, not real sure...

What they appear to be saying is that the movement of mass, in any form, sends out gravity waves. The waves are simulated, not measured. The rising mass of water in a storm carried by the hot air from the ocean which provides the lift sends the gravity waves into space.

You can do the same thing by throwing a rock into the air but your gravity wave will be small.

The force is strong in this one...