Tracking Gravity Waves in Baroclinic Jet-Front Systems

Abstract

Abstract Using a two-dimensional Fourier decomposition and a four-dimensional ray-tracing technique, the propagating characteristics and source mechanisms of mesoscale gravity waves simulated in idealized baroclinic jet-front systems are investigated. The Fourier decomposition successfully separates the simulated gravity waves from a complex background flow in the troposphere. Four groups of gravity waves in the lower stratosphere are identified from the spectral decomposition. One is a northward-propagating short-scale wave packet with horizontal wavelength of ∼150 km, and another is a northeastward-propagating medium-scale wave packet with horizontal wavelength of ∼350 km. Both of these are most pronounced in the exit region of the upper-tropospheric jet. A third group exists in the deep trough region above (and nearly perpendicular to) the jet, and a fourth group far to the south of the jet right above the surface cold front, both of which are short-scale waves and have a horizontal wavelength of ∼100–150 km. Ray-tracing analysis suggests that the medium-scale gravity waves originate from the upper-tropospheric jet-front system where there is maximum imbalance, though contributions from the surface fronts cannot be completely ruled out. The shorter-scale, northward-propagating gravity waves in the jet-exit region, on the other hand, may originate from both the upper-tropospheric jet-front system and the surface frontal system. The shorter-scale gravity waves in the deep trough region across the jet (and those right above the surface cold fronts) are almost certain to initiate from the surface frontal system. Ray-tracing analysis also reveals a very strong influence of the spatial and temporal variability of the complex background flow on the characteristics of gravity waves as they propagate.