Abstract
Examples of the evolution of gravity wave spectra launched upward from the lower stratosphere are computed at unprecedented spectral resolution, as a function of altitude z, in a one-dimensional model. Empirical model energy spectra of the kind proposed by Fritts and VanZandt are used as launch spectra. The dependence of these spectra on vertical wavenumber m have a power-law behavior m s at small m, to which the total wave-energy profile E tot(z) is sensitive. The effect on E tott(z) of varying s is investigated for several cases, and the resulting E tot(z) profiles are compared with an empirical profile E emp(z), derived by Fritts and Lu from observational studies. To the extent that E emp(z) is realistic and the power law m s is realistic, s values around 1.5 are arguably a better choice than the value s = 1 that is often assumed faute de mieux.
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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Warner, C.D., Mclntyre, M.E. (1997). Gravity wave spectral models and the shapes of gravity wave spectra at low vertical wavenumbers. In: Hamilton, K. (eds) Gravity Wave Processes. NATO ASI Series, vol 50. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60654-0_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-60654-0_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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