Modeling the propagation of atmospheric waves from various tropospheric disturbances and studying their influence on the upper atmosphere

The atmosphere and ionosphere are a complex dynamic system, which is affected by sources, caused both by internal processes and external ones. It is known that atmospheric waves propagating from the troposphere to the upper atmosphere make a significant contribution to the state of this system. One of the regular sources of such waves are various tropospheric disturbances caused, for example, by meteorological processes. Numerical modeling is an effective tool for studying these processes and the effects they cause. However, a number of problems arise, while setting up numerical experiments. The first is that most atmospheric models use hydrostatic approximation (which does not allow the resolution of small-scale perturbations) and work for a limited range of heights (which does not allow studying the relationship between the lower and upper atmosphere). This demands an accurate selection of the model in accordance with the stated research goals. The second problem is the difficulty of direct definition of the wave tropospheric sources, that was mentioned before, due to the lack of experimental information for their detailed description. The authors proposed, researched and tested a way to solve this problem. It was shown that the solution of the problem of waves propagation from a certain tropospheric source is completely determined by the pressure field at the surface of the Earth. This work is devoted to solving various problems using this approach.

This study presents the results of calculations of the propagation of infrasound and internal gravity waves from tropospheric disturbances given by pressure variations at the surface of the Earth. The experimental data associated with various meteorological events and the passage of the solar terminator were obtained both directly - by a network of microbarographs in the studied region, and indirectly - based on the data from the LIDAR signal intensity and temperature changes in the coastal region. The calculations were done using the non-hydrostatic numerical model “AtmoSym”. The characteristics of atmospheric waves generated by such sources are estimated. The effect from a tropospheric sources on the state of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere is investigated. The physical processes that determine the change in atmospheric parameters are discussed.  It is shown that the main contribution from wave disturbances generated by meteorological sources belongs to infrasound. Infrasound and internal gravity waves can be sources of travelling wave packets and can also cause a sporadic E-layer.

The study was funded by RFBR and Kaliningrad region according to the research project  19-45-390005 (Y. Kurdyaeva) and  RFBR to the research project  18-05-00184 (O. Borchevkina).