Uncertainties in using the hodograph method to retrieve gravity wave characteristics from individual soundings

Abstract

The hodograph method is commonly used to retrieve inertio-gravity wave characteristics from individual vertical profiles of the winds. In order to estimate the uncertainties of this method, we have analyzed mesoscale numerical simulations of a gravity wave event in which a coherent quasi-monochromatic inertio-gravity wave packet is present. Single profiles are extracted from the simulations, analyzed using the hodograph method, and the derived wave characteristics are compared to the reference values determined from the four-dimensional simulated fields. Although the conditions favor the use of the hodograph method, the derived wave parameters possess significant uncertainties. Copyright 2004 by the American Geophysical Union.