The propagation of inertia-gravity waves and their influence on mean zonal flow, part one: the propagation of inertia-gravity waves

Abstract

Inertia-gravity waves play an increasingly important role in the middle atmosphere dynamics. As a result, more attention has been paid to the study of inertia-gravity waves, especially to the middle atmosphere gravity waves. This paper presents some aspects of inertia-gravity waves with emphasis on the propagation. Two methods are used here, namely, geometric optical method and physical optical method. We can see from the study that inertia-gravity waves are similar to planetary waves in some respects and they are different from planetary waves in others.