Turbulence, Richardson number (Ri) distributions, and parametric instabilities in the turbopause region (96–105 km) from Na LIDAR measurements at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO)
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Turbulence in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region is responsible for vertical mixing and transport of constituents and heat and the formation of the turbo-pause. A study of turbulence at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) by Philbrick et al. (2021) found, for 25 nights of lidar observations, the probability of Ri < 1/4 decreased with altitude above 100 km, whereas the power in turbulence increased. The objective of this study is to understand the atmospheric process responsible for the observed increase in turbulence power with altitude. Conventionally turbulence is caused by instabilities due to convection (Ri < 0), and Kelvin-Helmholtz Instabilities (KHI), 0 < Ri < 1/4. These criteria are based on laminar flow, a waveless basic state. However, wave-modulated states requiring Floquet theory may dominate the MLT region and can generate instabilities and turbulence under more stable conditions (Ri > 1/4, Klostermeyer, 1990). It was determined in this study the probability of Ri > 1/4 to be >70% at 105 km, consistent with parametric instability (PI) where large tidal induced wind shears and gravity wave presence are contributing factors.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics (JASTP) is an international journal concerned with the inter-disciplinary science of the Earth''s atmospheric and space environment, especially the highly varied and highly variable physical phenomena that occur in this natural laboratory and the processes that couple them.
The journal covers the physical processes operating in the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere, the Sun, interplanetary medium, and heliosphere. Phenomena occurring in other "spheres", solar influences on climate, and supporting laboratory measurements are also considered. The journal deals especially with the coupling between the different regions.
Solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other energetic events on the Sun create interesting and important perturbations in the near-Earth space environment. The physics of such "space weather" is central to the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics and the journal welcomes papers that lead in the direction of a predictive understanding of the coupled system. Regarding the upper atmosphere, the subjects of aeronomy, geomagnetism and geoelectricity, auroral phenomena, radio wave propagation, and plasma instabilities, are examples within the broad field of solar-terrestrial physics which emphasise the energy exchange between the solar wind, the magnetospheric and ionospheric plasmas, and the neutral gas. In the lower atmosphere, topics covered range from mesoscale to global scale dynamics, to atmospheric electricity, lightning and its effects, and to anthropogenic changes.