Gravity waves (GWs) extend through great atmospheric depths--under some conditions exceeding 100 km in vertical extent, most notably above major mountain ranges--and embody oscillatory air motions and associated thermodynamic, chemical, microphysical and plasma properties. They are key communicators of momentum and other forms of energy between the lowest and highest reaches of earth's atmosphere. GWs also constitute a significant source of severe turbulence encountered by aircraft, play a role in formation of polar stratospheric clouds that in-turn contribute to ozone destruction, and systematically influence the larger-scale atmospheric circulation. In response to a submitted Scientific Program Overview (SPO) document for the Southern Andes - Antarctic Gravity wave InitiAtive (SAANGRIA) project, this preliminary effort will focus on travel required for coordination of potential SAANGRIA investigators and limited site surveys needed to identify suitable location(s) for operations involving research aircraft, supporting surface-based observations and associated personnel. If ultimately supported, the SAANGRIA field campaign will trace GWs from their generation above orographic escarpments and within active baroclinic zones to their high-altitude breakdown in the mesosphere and thermosphere.
If supported, SAANGRIA will utilize the NSF/NCAR GV aircraft as a platform for combined dropsonde, in situ and remote-sensing measurements of GW generation, propagation and dissipation. The project's intellectual merit is centered on advancing our understanding of GW sources and vertical coupling, GW instabilities and interactions, impacts on Antarctic ozone, and impacts of GW-modulated transport and deposition of momentum on large-scale atmospheric dynamics. Broader impacts of the planned field program will include training of graduate students, increased collaboration and coordination among multiple research agencies and research subdisciplines, improved understanding and forecasts of atmospheric turbulence and airflow, and associated societal benefits.
