Finite amplitude gravity waves in the Venus atmosphere generated by surface topography

A two-dimensional, fully nonlinear, nonhydrostatic, gravity wave model is used to study the evolution of gravity waves generated near the surface of Venus. The model extends from near the surface to well above the cloud layers. Waves are forced by applying a vertical wind at the bottom boundary. The boundary vertical wind is determined by the product of the horizontal wind and the gradient of the surface height. When wave amplitudes are small, the near-surface horizontal wind is the zonally averaged basic-state zonal wind, and the length scales of the forcing that results are characteristic of the surface height variation. When the forcing becomes larger and wave amplitudes affect the near-surface horizontal wind field, the forcing spectrum becomes more complicated, and a spectrum of waves is generated that is not a direct reflection of the spectrum of the surface height variation. Model spatial resolution required depends on the amplitude of forcing; for very nonlinear cases considered, vertical resolution was 250 m, and horizontal resolution was slightly greater than 1 km. For smaller forcing amplitudes, spatial resolution was much coarser, being 1 km in the vertical and about 10 km in the horizontal. Background static stability and mean wind are typical of those observed in the Venus atmosphere

A novel protein isoform of the RON tyrosine kinase receptor transforms human pancreatic duct epithelial cells.

The MST1R gene is overexpressed in pancreatic cancer producing elevated levels of the RON tyrosine kinase receptor protein. While mutations in MST1R are rare, alternative splice variants have been previously reported in epithelial cancers. We report the discovery of a novel RON isoform discovered in human pancreatic cancer. Partial splicing of exons 5 and 6 (P5P6) produces a RON isoform that lacks the first extracellular immunoglobulin-plexin-transcription domain. The splice variant is detected in 73% of xenografts derived from pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients and 71% of pancreatic cancer cell lines. Peptides specific to RON P5P6 detected in human pancreatic cancer specimens by mass spectrometry confirm translation of the protein isoform. The P5P6 isoform is found to be constitutively phosphorylated, present in the cytoplasm, and it traffics to the plasma membrane. Expression of P5P6 in immortalized human pancreatic duct epithelial (HPDE) cells activates downstream AKT, and in human pancreatic epithelial nestin-expressing cells, activates both the AKT and MAPK pathways. Inhibiting RON P5P6 in HPDE cells using a small molecule inhibitor BMS-777607 blocked constitutive activation and decreased AKT signaling. P5P6 transforms NIH3T3 cells and induces tumorigenicity in HPDE cells. Resultant HPDE-P5P6 tumors develop a dense stromal compartment similar to that seen in pancreatic cancer. In summary, we have identified a novel and constitutively active isoform of the RON tyrosine kinase receptor that has transforming activity and is expressed in human pancreatic cancer. These findings provide additional insight into the biology of the RON receptor in pancreatic cancer and are clinically relevant to the study of RON as a potential therapeutic target

Maui Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (Maui MALT) Observations of the Evolution of Kelvin-Helmholtz Billows Formed Near 86 km Altitude

Small-scale (less than 15 km horizontal wavelength) structures known as ripples have been seen in OH airglow images for nearly 30 years. The structures have been attributed to either convective or dynamical instabilities; the latter are mainly due to large wind shears, while the former are produced by superadiabatic temperature gradients. Dynamical instabilities produce Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) billows, which have been known for many years. However, models and laboratory experiments suggest that these billows often spawn a secondary instability that is convective in nature. While laboratory investigations see evidence of such structures, the evolution of these instabilities in the atmosphere has not been well documented. The Maui Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (Maui MALT) Observatory, located on Mt. Haleakala, is instrumented with a Na wind/temperature lidar that can detect dynamic or convective instabilities with 1 km vertical resolution over the altitude region from about 85 to 100 km. The observatory also includes a fast OH airglow camera, sensitive to emissions coming from approximately 82 to 92 km altitude, which obtains images every 3 s at sufficient resolution and signal to noise to see the ripples. On 15 July 2002, ripples were observed moving at an angle to their phase fronts. After a few minutes, structures appeared to form approximately perpendicular to the main ripple phase fronts. The lidar data showed that a region of dynamical instability existed from approximately 85.5 to 87 km and that the direction of the wind shear in this region was consistent with the phase fronts of the ripple features. The motion of the ripples themselves was consistent with the wind velocity at 85.9 km. Thus in this case the observed ripple motion was the advection of KH billows by the wind. The perpendicular structures were seen to be associated with the KH billows: they formed at the time when the atmosphere briefly became convectively unstable within the region where the KH billows most likely formed. Because of this and because the ripples were oriented approximately perpendicular to and moved with the billows, we speculate that they are the secondary instabilities predicted by models of KH evolution. The primary and perpendicular features were seen to decay into unstructured regions suggestive of turbulence. While the formation and decay time appear consistent with models, the horizontal wavelength of the perpendicular structures seems to be larger than models predict for the secondary instability features

Climatology and Modeling of Quasi-monochromatic Atmospheric Gravity Waves Observed over Urbana Illinois

From analyzing nine months of airglow imaging observations of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) over Adelaide, Australia (35°S) [Walterscheid et al., 1999] have proposed that many of the quasi-monochromatic waves seen in the images were primarily thermally ducted. Here are presented 15 months of observations, from February 1996 to May 1997, for AGW frequency and propagation direction from a northern latitude site, Urbana Illinois (40°N). As Adelaide, Urbana is geographically distant from large orographic features. Similar to what was found in Adelaide, the AGWs seem to originate from a preferred location during the time period around summer solstice. In conjunction with these airglow data there exists MF radar data to provide winds in the 90 km region and near-simultaneous lidar data which provide a temperature climatology. The temperature data have previously been analyzed by States and Gardner [2000]. The temperature and wind data are used here in a full wave model analysis to determine the characteristics of the wave ducting and wave reflection during the 15 month observation period. This model analysis is applied to this and another existing data set recently described by Nakamura et al. [1999]. It is shown that the existence of a thermal duct around summer solstice can plausibly account for our observations. However, the characteristics of the thermal duct and the ability of waves to be ducted is also greatly dependent on the characteristics of the background wind. A simple model is constructed to simulate the trapping of these waves by such a duct. It is suggested that the waves seen over Urbana originate no more than a few thousand kilometers from the observation site

Airglow Emissions and Oxygen Mixing Ratios from the Photometer Experiment on the Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment (TOMEX)

The Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment (TOMEX) combined Na lidar measurements from Starfire Optical Range in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a launch of a payload from White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), located a little over 100 km from Starfire. The payload included a trmethyl aluminum release to measure winds and diffusion, a 5-channel ionization gauge to measure neutral densities, and a 3-channel photometer experiment to measure atomic oxygen related airglow. The payload was launched at 0957 UT on 26 October 2000 and successfully obtained data from all the experiments. The photometer experiment consisted of three liquid nitrogen cooled filter photometers which measured emission from the O2 atmospheric band (0, 0) emission, the OH Meinel (9, 4) band, and the OI(557.7 nm) greenline. Measurements were made as the rocket went from 80 to 110 km on the upleg. The pointing of the photometers was within a few degrees of zenith. Differentiating these data allowed volume emission rates to be derived which can be inverted to form atomic oxygen density profiles. The interpretation of the data made use of simultaneous atmospheric temperature data from the Na lidar. The airglow data showed lower brightness values and lower peak altitudes for the O2 atmospheric (0, 0) band and OI(557.7 nm) emissions than predicted by the thermosphere/ ionosphere/mesopshere/electrodynamics general circulation (TIME-GCM) model. The peak altitude of the OH Meinel emission seemed nominal. Inverting the O2 atmospheric (0, 0) and OI(557.7 nm) data following McDade et al. [1986] produced O density profiles whose peak densities and peak altitudes are lower than the model values. The shape of the O density profile is also more constant with altitude than model predictions. The O mixing ratio shows a more altitude-independent profile than given by the model, especially between 85 and 95 km. Significant deviations in the measured shape of the mixing ratio also occur at 90, 97, and 102 km. The interpretation of these data is that the O mixing ratio was significantly perturbed by the passage of an atmospheric gravity wave or tide and the subsequent convective or dynamical instabilities produced by that wave. Dynamically or convectively unstable layers at 90, 97, and 102 km at the time of the launch also appear to be reflected in the mixing ratio data

An Observation of a Fast External Atmospheric Acoustic-gravity Wave

In November 1999 a new near-IR airglow imaging system was deployed at the Starfire Optical Range outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. This system allowed wide angle images of the airglow to be collected, with high signal to noise, every 3 seconds with a one second integration time. At approximately 1000 UT on November 17, 1999, a fast wavelike disturbance was seen propagating through the OH Meinel airglow layer. This wave had an observed period of ≈215 seconds, an observed phase velocity of ≈160 m/s and a horizontal wavelength of ≈35 km. This phase velocity is among the fastest yet reported using an imager viewing the OH Meinel bands, while the wave period is among the shortest. Simultaneous Na lidar wind and temperature data from 80 to nearly 110 km altitude allow the intrinsic properties of the wave to be calculated. The Einaudi and Hines [1970] WKB approximation for the acoustic-gravity wave dispersion relation was used to calculate the wave’s intrinsic properties. Using this approach indicates that the observed disturbance was an external acoustic wave in the 90 to 107 km altitude region and an external gravity wave at other altitudes between 80 and 90 km. Using model atmospheric data for altitudes below and above this altitude regime indicates that the wave is essentially external everywhere except perhaps in narrow regions around 80 and 105–110 km. This is confirmed using a more exact full-wave model analysis. The observations and model results suggest that this wave was not generated in the troposphere and propagated up to the mesosphere, but rather near 100 km altitude where it was possibly generated by a Leonids meteor

An intense traveling airglow front in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere with characteristics of a bore observed over Alice Springs, Australia, during a strong 2 day wave episode

Extent: 13p.The Aerospace Corporation's Nightglow Imager observed a large step function change in airglow in the form of a traveling front in the OH Meinel (OHM) and O2atmospheric (O2A) airglow emissions over Alice Springs, Australia, on 2 February 2003. The front exhibited nearly a factor of 2 stepwise increase in the OHM brightness and a stepwise decrease in the O2A brightness. There was significant (∼25 K) cooling behind the airglow fronts. The OHM airglow brightness behind the front was among the brightest for Alice Springs that we have measured in 7 years of observations. The event was associated with a strong phase-locked 2 day wave (PL/TDW). We have analyzed the wave trapping conditions for the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere using a combination of data and empirical models and found that the airglow layers were located in a region of ducting. The PL/TDW-disturbed wind profile was effective in supporting a high degree of ducting, whereas without the PL/TDW the ducting was minimal or nonexistent. The change in brightness in each layer was associated with a strong leading disturbance followed by a train of weak barely visible waves. In OHM the leading disturbance was an isolated disturbance resembling a solitary wave. The characteristics of the wave train suggest an undular bore with some turbulent dissipation at the leading edge.R. L. Walterscheid, J. H. Hecht, L. J. Gelinas, M. P. Hickey, and I. M. Rei

A Boreing Night of Observations of the Upper Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Over the Andes Lidar Observatory

A very high-spatial resolution (∼21-23 m pixel at 85 km altitude) OH airglow imager at the Andes Lidar Observatory at Cerro Pach´on, Chile observed considerable ducted wave activity on the night of October 29-30, 2016. This instrument was collocated with a Na wind-temperature lidar that provided data revealing the occurrence of strong ducts. A large field of view OH and greenline airglow imager showed waves present over a vertical extent consistent with the altitudes of the ducting features identified in the lidar profiles. While waves that appeared to be ducted were seen in all imagers throughout the observation interval, the wave train seen in the OH images at earlier times had a distinct leading non-sinusoidal phase followed by several, lower-amplitude, more sinusoidal phases, suggesting a likely bore. The leading phase exhibited significant dissipation via small-scale secondary instabilities suggesting vortex rings that progressed rapidly to smaller scales and turbulence (the latter not fully resolved) thereafter. The motions of these small-scale features were consistent with their location in the duct at or below ∼83-84 km. Bore dissipation caused a momentum flux divergence and a local acceleration of the mean flow within the duct along the direction of the initial bore propagation. A number of these features are consistent with mesospheric bores observed or modeled in previous studies

Kelvin-Helmholtz Billow Interactions and Instabilities In The Mesosphere Over the Andes Lidar Observatory: 1. Observations

A very high spatial resolution (∼25 m pixel at 90 km altitude) OH airglow imager was installed at the Andes Lidar Observatory on Cerro Pachón, Chile, in February 2016. This instrument was collocated with a Na wind-temperature lidar. On 1 March 2016, the lidar data showed that the atmosphere was dynamically unstable before 0100 UT and thus conducive to the formation of Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHIs). The imager revealed the presence of a KHI and an apparent atmospheric gravity wave (AGW) propagating approximately perpendicular to the plane of primary KHI motions. The AGW appears to have induced modulations of the shear layer leading to misalignments of the emerging KHI billows. These enabled strong KHI billow interactions, as they achieved large amplitudes and a rapid transition to turbulence thereafter. The interactions manifested themselves as vortex tube and knot features that were earlier identified in laboratory studies, as discussed in Thorpe (1987, https://doi.org/10.1029/ JC092iC05p05231; 2002, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.200212858307) and inferred to be widespread in the atmosphere based on features seen in tropospheric clouds but which have never been identified in previous upper atmospheric observations. This study presents the first high-resolution airglow imaging observation of these KHI interaction dynamics that drive rapid transitions to turbulence and suggest the potential importance of these dynamics in the mesosphere and at other altitudes. A companion paper (Fritts et al., 2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JD033412) modeling these dynamics confirms that the vortex tubes and knots yield more rapid and significantly enhanced turbulence relative to the internal instabilities of individual KHI billows

Characteristics of Short-period Wavelike Features Near 87 km Altitude From Airglow and Lidar Observations Over Maui

Small-scale (less than 15 km horizontal wavelength) wavelike structures known as ripples are a common occurrence in OH airglow images. Recent case studies attribute their origin to the presence of either convective or dynamical instabilities. However, little is known about their frequency of occurrence and period. The Maui-MALT Observatory, located at Mt. Haleakala, is instrumented with a Na wind/temperature lidar, which allows the determination of whether the atmosphere is dynamically or convectively unstable, and a fast OH airglow camera which takes images every 3 s with a sensitivity high enough to see the ripples. This study reports on 2 months of observations in October/November 2003 and in August 2004, eight nights of which also included Na lidar measurements. The imager results suggest that instability features occur in the 85- to 90-km region of the atmosphere for around 20% of the time. The nominal observed period for the ripples is between 2 and 4 min. While there are clear night-to-night variations, the average observed period is similar for both the 2003 and 2004 observations. In addition, a few of the small-scale structures are not ripples caused by instabilities but rather have features consistent with their being short horizontal wavelength evanescent waves. Their fractional intensity fluctuations are as large or larger than those of the ripple instabilities. Unlike the instabilities, the origin of the evanescent waves is not determined