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Inertia gravity wave activity in the troposphere and lower stratosphere observed by Wuhan MST radar

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Abstract

The troposphere and lower stratosphere (TLS) is a region with active atmospheric fluctuations. The Wuhan Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) radar is the first MST radar to have become operational in Mainland China. It is dedicated to real-time atmospheric observations. In this paper, two case studies about inertia gravity waves (IGWs) derived from three-dimensional wind field data collected with the Wuhan MST radar are presented. The intrinsic frequencies, vertical wavelengths, horizontal wavelengths, vertical wavenumber spectra, and energy density are calculated and analyzed. In this paper, we also report on multiple waves existing in the lower stratosphere observed by the Wuhan MST radar. Lomb-Scargle spectral analysis and the hodograph method were used to derive the vertical wavenumber and propagation direction. Meanwhile, an identical IGW is observed by Wuhan MST radar both in troposphere and lower stratosphere regions. Combining the observations, the source of the latter IGW detected in the TLS would be the jet streams located in the tropopause region, which also produced wind shear above and below the tropopause.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Space Physics, School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    HaiYin Qing, Chen Zhou, ZhengYu Zhao, BinBin Ni & YuanNong Zhang

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  1. HaiYin Qing
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  2. Chen Zhou
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  3. ZhengYu Zhao
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  4. BinBin Ni
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  5. YuanNong Zhang
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Correspondence to Chen Zhou.

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Qing, H., Zhou, C., Zhao, Z. et al. Inertia gravity wave activity in the troposphere and lower stratosphere observed by Wuhan MST radar. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1066–1073 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5253-9

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