Atmospheric gravity waves over the Arabian Sea

[Aquawind]

Pretty cool example of atmospheric gravity waves..comments about gravity waves would be appreciated..I don't know alot about them..

http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gall ... 25.1km.jpg

Paul

[P.K.]

Paul, as far as I understand it when you have a stably stratified air parcel and air is forced to rise by the land then the buoyancy acts as a restoring fluid causing the parcel to oscillate about its neutral buoyancy level. I think you were asking more about surface gravity waves though. If this is showing these I'm not entirely sure how they are being produced in this case, apart from the fact that any vertical motion must be accompanied by horizontal movement.

Internal gravity waves can also arise from perturbations to the depth of density interfaces within the fluid, but as the restoring force is the buoyancy force rather than the full gravitational force they evolve far more slowly than internal gravity waves.

*Might have an exam on Atmosphere and Ocean Dynamics tomorrow of which this is part of the course.....*