CAREER: The Role of Gravity Instability and Breakdown on Subsequent Gravity Wave Generation and Coupling

CAREER奖的主要目标是研究重力波（GW）耦合和中下层热层（MLT）在地形重力波活动和强惯性重力波区域上的发展。这项研究将解决理解复杂的多尺度GW相互作用和击穿过程的突出需求。它还将研究这些过程在整个大气中GW的产生和耦合中所起的作用。该研究将使用安第斯激光雷达观测站（ALO） （30.3 S, 70.7W）和Poker Flat （65.1N, 147.5W）的钠激光雷达测量数据，以及放置在Poker Flat的OH气辉成像仪的红外羟基（OH）气辉测量数据。以下问题将被研究：1)在一系列高度和空间区域或MLT部分破碎区域中，GW击穿的含义是什么，以及这如何影响次级和更高阶GW的产生？2)在大气不太稳定的区域会出现什么样的高频光谱，这与湍流产生和GW击穿等动力学有什么关系或影响？一名博士研究生和一名硕士生将被支持进行这项研究，以及本科生在夏季期间的研究。该奖项的教育推广推力将基于将基于激光雷达的仪器技术课程引入高级工程专业学生的学术课程的发展。将制作录象带，目的是向一般公众讲授破碎的重力波对接近空间边缘80至100公里高的大气区域的影响。研究活动包括将高分辨率分析软件应用于原始钠激光雷达数据，以获得密度、风和温度，用于研究惯性gw和小尺度（40公里）、高频（10分钟）动力学。这些测量将用于MLT区域多尺度和频率的GW，以及与GW击穿和多尺度相互作用相关的不稳定性的研究。此外，在红外光谱中获得的OH气辉图像将用于确定与GWs和不稳定性相关的空间特征的水平光谱。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The primary objective of this CAREER award is the study of the development of gravity wave (GW) coupling and breakdown in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) over regions of orographic GW activity and strong inertia-GWs. This research will address an outstanding need for understanding complex multi-scale GW interactions and breakdown processes. It will also investigate the role that these processes play in GW generation and coupling throughout the atmosphere. The study will use data obtained by sodium lidar measurements over the Andes lidar observatory (ALO) (30.3 S, 70.7W) and Poker Flat (65.1N, 147.5W) as well as infrared hydroxyl (OH) airglow measurements from an OH airglow imager to be placed at Poker Flat. The following questions will be examined: 1) What are the implications of GW breakdown over a range of altitudes and spatial regions or partial breaking regions in the MLT, and how does this influence secondary and higher order GW generation? 2) What high-frequency spectra arise in less stable regions of the atmosphere and how does this relate to or influence dynamics such as turbulence generation and GW breakdown? A doctoral graduate student and a master student will be supported in the conduct of this research as well as undergraduate research students during the summer periods. The educational outreach thrust of this award will be based upon the development of a lidar-based instrumental technology class introduced into the academic curriculum for senior engineering students. Videos will be developed aimed at teaching the general public about the influence that breaking gravity waves have on the atmosphere region near the edge of space, 80 to 100 km high.Research activities include the application of high-resolution analysis software to raw sodium lidar data to obtain densities, winds, and temperatures for the study of both inertia-GWs and small-scale (40km), high frequency (10 minutes) dynamics. These measurements will be used for the study of GWs at multiple scales and frequencies in the MLT region, and instabilities associated with GW breakdown and multi-scale interactions. Additionally, OH airglow images obtained in the infrared spectrum will be used to determine the horizontal spectrum of spatial features associated with GWs and instabilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.