GENERATION OF MESOSPHERIC PLANETARY WAVES BY ZONALLY ASYMMETRIC GRAVITY WAVE BREAKING.

Abstract

A semi-spectral numerical model is used to study the influence of a longitudinally varying gravity wave source on the general circulation of the winter mesosphere. The gravity wave source consists of stationary (topographic) waves with a longitudinally varying amplitude distribution that is approximated by the first two terms in a zonal harmonic expansion. The computed zonal mean circulation in the mesosphere is nearly the same as that computed for a zonally symmetric gravity wave source of equal amplitude.