AIRS Gravity Wave Observations

• This web site presents results from several analyses of stratospheric gravity wave activity as seen in measurements provided by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on-board NASA's Aqua satellite.

1. High-spatial Resolution Retrieval

• Quick-look plots for the year 2008

• Quick-look plots for the year 2007

• Quick-look plots for the year 2006

• Quick-look plots for the year 2005

• Quick-look plots for the year 2004

• Quick-look plots for the year 2003

2. North American Thunderstorm Season

2.1. Analysis for the year 2008

• Daily maps for May 2008

• Daily maps for June 2008

• Daily maps for July 2008

• Daily maps for August 2008

2.2. Analysis for the year 2007

• Daily maps for May 2007

• Daily maps for June 2007

• Daily maps for July 2007

• Daily maps for August 2007

2.3. Analysis for the year 2006

• Daily maps for May 2006

• Daily maps for June 2006

• Daily maps for July 2006

• Daily maps for August 2006

2.4. Analysis for the year 2005

• Daily maps for May 2005

• Daily maps for June 2005

• Daily maps for July 2005

• Daily maps for August 2005

2.5. Analysis for the year 2004

• Daily maps for May 2004

• Daily maps for June 2004

• Daily maps for July 2004

• Daily maps for August 2004

2.6. Analysis for the year 2003

• Daily maps for May 2003

• Daily maps for June 2003

• Daily maps for July 2003

• Daily maps for August 2003

3. Tibetan Plateau

3.1. Analysis for the year 2005

• tbd

4. References

• L. Hoffmann and M. J. Alexander. Occurrence frequency of convective gravity waves during the North American thunderstorm season, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D20111, doi:10.1029/2010JD014401, 2010. (http://www.agu.org/journals/jd/jd1020/2010JD014401/)

• A. W. Grimsdell, M. J. Alexander, Peter T. May, L. Hoffmann, Model study of waves generated by convection with direct validation via satellite, J. Atmos. Scie., doi:10.1175/2009JAS3197.1, in press, 2009. (http://ams.allenpress.com/perlserv/?request=get-pdf&doi=10.1175%2F2009JAS3197.1)

• S. D. Eckermann, L. Hoffmann, M. Höpfner, D. L. Wu, M. J. Alexander, Antarctic NAT PSC belt of June 2003: Observational validation of the mountain wave seeding hypothesis, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L02807, doi:10.1029/2008GL036629, 2009. (http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2008GL036629.shtml)

• L. Hoffmann and M. J. Alexander: Retrieval of Stratospheric Temperatures from AIRS Radiance Measurements for Gravity Wave Studies, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D07105, doi:10.1029/2008JD011241, 2009. (http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2009/2008JD011241.shtml)