Global gravity wave detections at infrasound stations of the International Monitoring System

Atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) transport energy and momentum horizontally and vertically. The dissipation of GWs can modify the atmospheric circulation at different altitude layers. Knowledge about the occurrence of GWs is thus essential for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP). However, uniform networks for global GW measurements are rare, and satellite observations generally allow to derive GW parameters in the middle and upper atmosphere only. The barometric sensors of the International Monitoring System (IMS) infrasound network can potentially fill this gap of global GW observations at the Earth’s surface. This infrasound network has been established for monitoring the atmosphere to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Two alternative configurations of the Progressive Multi-Channel Correlation Method (PMCC) are discussed for deriving GW detections from the differential pressure data. These configurations focus on GW frequencies equivalent to periods of between 5 min and 150 min. This range covers sources of deep convection, particularly in the tropics, whereas at mid-latitudes, GWs are hard to distinguish from other low-frequency signals, e.g. coherent wind noise. Challenges and perspectives of using the IMS infrasound data for deriving ground-based GW parameters useful for NWP will be discussed.