An investigation of long-distance propagation of gravity waves under CAWSES India Phase II Programme

Abstract

Coordinated measurements of airglow features from the mesosphere–lower thermosphere (MLT) region were performed at Allahabad (25.5° N, 81.9° E) and Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), India to study the propagation of gravity waves in 13–27° N latitude range during the period June 2009 to May 2010 under CAWSES (Climate And Weather of Sun Earth System) India Phase II Programme. At Allahabad, imaging observations of OH broadband emissions and OI 557.7 nm emission were made using an all-sky imager, while at Gadanki photometric measurements of OH (6, 2) Meinel band and O2 (0, 1) Atmospheric band emissions were carried out. On many occasions, the nightly observations reveal the presence of similar waves at both locations. Typically, the period of observed similar waves lay in the 2.2–4.5 h range, had large phase speeds (~ 77–331 m s−1) and large wavelengths (~ 1194–2746 km). The images of outgoing long-wave radiation activity of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the high-resolution infrared images of KALPANA-1 satellite suggest that such waves possibly originated from some nearby convective sources. An analysis of their propagation characteristics in conjunction with SABER/TIMED temperature profiles and Horizontal Wind Model (HWM 2007) wind estimates suggest that the waves propagated over long distances (~ 1200–2000 km) in atmospheric ducts.