Long-range Propagation, Interaction, and Dissipation of Small-Scale Gravity Waves in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere

A 2-D nonlinear, compressible numerical model [Snively and Pasko, 2008] is used in conjunction with ray-theory to investigate the long-range propagation, dissipation and interaction of small-scale gravity waves in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) region. The research in this thesis is made up of three distinct studies which build upon each other. The first investigates the thermospheric dissipation of three gravity wave packets representing: (1) A quasi-monochromatic packet, (2) A monochromatic, steady state wave, and (3) A spectrally broad packet, as well as an initial condition specified packet. It is found that dissipation due to molecular viscosity and thermal conduction acts to decrease the vertical wavelength of the packet in time (except in the steady-state case, when it remains constant). This is due to the higher frequencies (longer wavelengths) reaching the thermsophere first and dissipating before the lower frequencies (shorter wavelengths), thus the spectral content of the packet shifts from higher frequencies (longer wavelengths) to lower frequencies (shorter wavelengths) in time. At any instant of time, the vertical wavelength increases with altitude in the thermosphere when the wave has reached a steady state. The second study investigated the potential for long-range propagation of three small-scale wave packets under averaged high latitude conditions. The three packets were chosen to represent wave parameters typically observed over Halley, Antarctica [Nielsen et al., 2009, 2012] and ones that may be considered favorable for long-range propagation [ Snively, 2013]. It was found that the stratosphere provides an efficient region of the atmosphere to trap waves and allow them to propagate large horizontal distances. Ducting in the mesosphere was less likely when considering averaged meridional winds, and it is suggested that waves observed in the mesopause, far from the source region, may be the result of leakage from the stratosphere. It was also shown that leakage from the stratosphere over considerable horizontal distances can lead to a periodic and spatially distributed forcing on the MLT region. The third and final study investigated the propagation of wave packets through a background wind which was horizontally, and vertically inhomogeneities and also time dependent. Two small-scale wave packets were chosen, such that one was prone to critical level filtering and the other reflection. These waves were propagated through (1) a background wind which was static and varied in the vertical and horizontal directions separately, (2) a background wind representing a medium-scale wave propagating in the direction of propagation of the small-scale wave, and (3) a background wind representing a medium-scale wave propagating against the propagation direction of the small-scale wave. It was found that a purely horizontally inhomogeneous background wind can include a blocking level, where the horizontal group velocity of the small-scale packet goes to zero, if the wind opposes and the horizontal gradient is negative relative to the propagation direction. If the wind gradient is positive then the wind will horizontally accelerate the small-scale packet. Adding a time-dependent phase progression to the medium scale waves acts to significantly reduce the effects of both reflection and critical level filtering of the small-scale packet. Also, a small-scale packet was less likely to experience reflection or critical level filtering if it was propagating against the horizontal phase progression of the medium scale wave. The reduction of critical level filtering and reflection in a time-dependent background is the result of 1) The transient nature of the critical or reflection level, which will progress with the phase of the medium scale wave. 2) The time-dependence of the background wind acts to alter the ground relative frequency of the small-scale wave and avoid satisfying the critical level or reflection conditions. Current parameterization schemes consider time-independent backgrounds which vary in the vertical direction only, and generally do not consider the effects of wave reflection. Understanding how a time-dependent, and horizontally inhomogeneous background effects small-scale wave propagation may be important for future parameterizations as small- scale waves are suggested to contribute significantly to the overall momentum budget of the middle atmosphere

Gravity Wave Drag Parameterizations for Earth’s Atmosphere

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs), or buoyancy waves, transport momentum and energy through Earth’s atmosphere. GWs are important at nearly all levels of the atmosphere, though, the momentum they transport is particularly important in general circulation of the middle and upper atmosphere. Primary sources of atmospheric GWs are flow over mountains, moist convection, and imbalances in jet/frontal systems. Secondary GWs can also be generated as a result of dissipation of a primary GWs. Gravity waves typically have horizontal wavelengths of 10’s to 100’s of kilometers, though, they can have scales of 1’s to 1000’s of kilometers as well. Current effective resolutions of climate models, and even numerical weather prediction models, do not resolve significant portions of the momentum- and energy-flux-carrying GW spectrum, and so parameterizations are necessary to represent under- and unresolved GWs in most current models. Here, an overview of GWs generated by orography, convection, jet/front systems, primary wave breaking, and secondary wave generation is provided. The basic theory of GW generation, propagation, and dissipation relevant to parameterization is presented. Conventionally used GW parameterizations are then reviewed. Lastly, we describe uncertainties and parameter tuning in current parameterizations and discuss known processes that are currently missing

Observation and Modeling of Gravity Wave Propagation through Reflection and Critical Layers above Andes Lidar Observatory at Cerro Pachón, Chile

A complex gravity wave event was observed from 04:30 to 08:10 UTC on 16 January 2015 by a narrow-band sodium lidar and an all-sky airglow imager located at Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) in Cerro Pachón (30.25∘S, 70.73∘W), Chile. The gravity wave packet had a period of 18–35 min and a horizontal wavelength of about 40–50 km. Strong enhancements of the vertical wind perturbation, exceeding10 m s−1, were found at ∼90 km and ∼103 km, consistent with nearly evanescent wave behavior near a reflection layer. A reduction in vertical wavelength was found as the phase speed approached the background wind speed near ∼93 km. A distinct three-layered structure was observed in the lidar data due to refraction of the wave packet. A fully nonlinear model was used to simulate this event, which successfully reproduced the amplitudes and layered structure seen in observations. The model results provide dynamical insight, suggesting that a double reflection occurring at two separate heights caused the large vertical wind amplitudes, while the three-layered structure in the temperature perturbation was a result of relatively stable regions at those altitudes. The event provides a clear perspective on the filtering processes to which short-period, small-scale gravity waves are subject in mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Analysis of Energy Transfer among Background Flow, Gravity Waves and Turbulence in the mesopause region in the process of Gravity Wave Breaking from a High-resolution Atmospheric Model

We conducted an analysis of the process of GW breaking from an energy perspective using the output from a high-resolution compressible atmospheric model. The investigation focused on the energy conversion and transfer that occur during the GW breaking. The total change in kinetic energy and the amount of energy converted to internal energy and potential energy within a selected region were calculated. Prior to GW breaking, part of the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, most of which is transported out of the chosen region. After the GW breaks and turbulence develops, part of the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, most of which is converted into internal energy. The calculations for the transfer of kinetic energy among GWs, turbulence, and the BG in a selected region, as well as the contributions from various interactions (BG-GW, BG-turbulence, and GW-turbulence), are performed. At the point where the GW breaks, turbulence is generated. As the GW breaking process proceeds, the GWs lose energy to the background. At the start of the GW breaking, turbulence receives energy through interactions between GWs and turbulence, and between the BG and turbulence. Once the turbulence has accumulated enough energy, it begins to absorb energy from the background while losing energy to the GWs. The probabilities of instability are calculated during various stages of the GW-breaking process. The simulation suggests that the propagation of GWs results in instabilities, which are responsible for the GW breaking. As turbulence grows, it reduces convective instability

A Single-Step Route to Robust and Fluorine-Free Superhydrophobic Coatings via Aerosol-Assisted Chemical Vapor Deposition

Robust fluorine-free superhydrophobic films were produced from a mixture of two fatty acids (stearic acid and palmitic acid), SiO2 nanoparticles, and polydimethylsiloxane. These simple and nontoxic compounds were deposited via aerosol-assisted chemical vapor deposition to provide the rough topography required for superhydrophobicity, formed through island growth of the aggregates. The optimum conditions for well-adhered superhydrophobic films produced films with a highly textured morphology, which possessed a water contact angle of 162 ± 2° and a sliding angle of <5°. Superhydrophobicity was maintained after ultraviolet exposure (14 days at 365 nm), heat treatment (5 h at 300 °C and 5 h at 400 °C), 300 tape peel cycles, and exposure to ethanol and toluene (5 h each)

Gravity Wave Ducting Observed in the Mesosphere Over Jicamarca, Peru

Short-period gravity waves are ubiquitous in the mesosphere, but the vertical structures of their perturbations are difficult to observe. The Jicamarca 50-MHz very high frequency radar allows observations of winds and turbulent scatter with high temporal and vertical resolution. We present a case of a quasi-monochromatic gravity wave with period 520 (±40) s that is likely ducted below a southward wind jet between 68 and 74 km. Above this layer of evanescence, a northward wind enables it to emerge into a more stable layer, where it is refracted to a short vertical wavelength of 2.2 (±0.2) km; data show evidence of weak nonlinearity, and possible overturning or partial reflection from higher altitudes, above the observable region, in the form of a standing wave structure in vertical velocity at approximately 75 km. Based on the dispersion relation, and with help of a two-dimensional model, we determine that most likely the wave is propagating northward and is being ducted below and tunneling through the regions of evanescence created by the wind flow and typical mesospheric thermal structure. This is the first time that such an event has been identified in the Jicamarca mesospheric echoes, and it is distinct from Kelvin-Helmholtz billows also commonly seen with this sensitive radar—instead apparently revealing tunneling of the gravity wave through ambient winds

Secondary Gravity Waves Generated by Breaking Mountain Waves Over Europe

A strong mountain wave, observed over Central Europe on 12 January 2016, is simulated in 2D under two fixed background wind conditions representing opposite tidal phases. The aim of the simulation is to investigate the breaking of the mountain wave and subsequent generation of nonprimary waves in the upper atmosphere. The model results show that the mountain wave first breaks as it approaches a mesospheric critical level creating turbulence on horizontal scales of 8–30 km. These turbulence scales couple directly to horizontal secondary waves scales, but those scales are prevented from reaching the thermosphere by the tidal winds, which act like a filter. Initial secondary waves that can reach the thermosphere range from 60 to 120 km in horizontal scale and are influenced by the scales of the horizontal and vertical forcing associated with wave breaking at mountain wave zonal phase width, and horizontal wavelength scales. Large-scale nonprimary waves dominate over the whole duration of the simulation with horizontal scales of 107–300 km and periods of 11–22 minutes. The thermosphere winds heavily influence the time-averaged spatial distribution of wave forcing in the thermosphere, which peaks at 150 km altitude and occurs both westward and eastward of the source in the 2 UT background simulation and primarily eastward of the source in the 7 UT background simulation. The forcing amplitude is ∼2× that of the primary mountain wave breaking and dissipation. This suggests that nonprimary waves play a significant role in gravity waves dynamics and improved understanding of the thermospheric winds is crucial to understanding their forcing distribution

Momentum Flux Spectra of a Mountain Wave Event Over New Zealand

During the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) 13 July 2014 research flight over the South Island of New Zealand, a multiscale spectrum of mountain waves (MWs) was observed. High-resolution measurements of sodium densities were available from ~70 to 100 km for the duration of this flight. A comprehensive technique is presented for obtaining temperature perturbations, T′, from sodium mixing ratios over a range of altitudes, and these T′ were used to calculate the momentum flux (MF) spectra with respect to horizontal wavelengths, λH, for each flight segment. Spectral analysis revealed MWs with spectral power centered at λH of ~80, 120, and 220 km. The temperature amplitudes of these MWs varied between the four cross-mountain flight legs occurring between 6:10UT and 9:10UT. The average spectral T′ amplitudes near 80 km in altitude ranged from 7–13 K for the 220 km λH MW and 4–8 K for the smaller λH MWs. These amplitudes decayed significantly up to 90 km, where a critical level for MWs was present. The average MF per unit mass near 80 km in altitude ranged from ~13 to 60 m2/s2 across the varying spectra over the duration of the research flight and decayed to ~0 by 88 km in altitude. These MFs are large compared to zonal means and highlight the importance of MWs in the momentum budget of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at times when they reach these altitudes

Identification of Allele-Specific RNAi Effectors Targeting Genetic Forms of Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder affecting an estimated 5–10 million people worldwide. Recent evidence has implicated several genes that directly cause or increase susceptibility to PD. As well as advancing understanding of the genetic aetiology of PD these findings suggest new ways to modify the disease course, in some cases through genetic manipulation. Here we generated a ‘walk-through’ series of RNA Pol III-expressed shRNAs targeting both the α-synuclein A30P and LRRK2 G2019S PD-associated mutations. Allele-specific discrimination of the α-synuclein A30P mutation was achieved with alignments at position 10, 13 and 14 in two model systems, including a heterozygous model mimicking the disease setting, whilst 5′RACE was used to confirm stated alignments. Discrimination of the most common PD-linked LRRK2 G2019S mutation was assessed in hemizygous dual-luciferase assays and showed that alignment of the mutation opposite position 4 of the antisense species produced robust discrimination of alleles at all time points studied. Discrimination at this position was subsequently confirmed using siRNAs, where up to 10-fold discrimination was seen. The results suggest that RNAi-mediated silencing of PD-associated autosomal dominant genes could be a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of the relevant clinical cases of PD in future