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Gravity wave structure between 60 and 90 km inferred from Space Shuttle reentry dataDensity fluctuations obtained along seven Space Shuttle reentry tracks are used to examine the horizontal structure and the vertical distribution of density variance in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The tracks lie primarily over open ocean at middle and low latitudes and represent the only measurements of horizontal atmospheric structure at these heights available to date. The density fluctuations are interpreted in terms of gravity-wave motions and reveal significant density (and velocity) variance at horizontal scales ranging from about 10 to 1000 km. Fluctuation amplitudes are used to infer corresponding velocity perturbations and characteristic vertical scales and frequencies of the wave spectrum. Results suggest that the mean velocity variance is smaller over the Pacific ocean than over major land masses, and that the variance increases with height in a manner consistent with that expected in the present of wave saturation processes.
Document ID
19890045638
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Fritts, David C.
(Alaska, University Fairbanks, United States)
Blanchard, Robert C.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Coy, Lawrence
(Saint Louis Universtiy MO, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
February 1, 1989
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences
Volume: 46
ISSN: 0022-4928
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
89A33009
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: N00014-86-K-0661
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF ATM-84-04017
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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