The investigators will study the propagation and dissipation of gravity waves in the mesopause region using theoretical modeling and lidar measurements of the middle atmosphere. One element of the study involves the coupling of high resolution, multi-component lidar data with numerical models of nonlinear gravity waves to determine the dominant processes observed in the lidar data and their relative contribution to wave forcing in the mesopause. Additionally, the investigators will use the results to develop more robust analysis procedures for single-component lidar measurements. The research will extend the current analysis of lidar data to characterize the breaking waves rather than focusing on the quasi-linear characteristics that are most easily observed and quantified. The study will also incorporate these results in the analysis of single-component lidar data to allow interpretation of data sets in terms of variability in different wave breaking processes. Understanding the role of different wave breaking processes in the mesosphere is important for understanding the global circulation and assessing the long term variability of the middle atmosphere.
