Impact of gravity waves on the motion and  distribution of atmospheric ice particles

Podglajen, Aurélien; Plougonven, Riwal; Hertzog, Albert; Jensen, Eric

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10799-2018

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10799-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10799-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 14

Research article

|

31 Jul 2018

Research article |

| 31 Jul 2018

Impact of gravity waves on the motion and distribution of atmospheric ice particles

Aurélien Podglajen, Riwal Plougonven, Albert Hertzog, and Eric Jensen

Data sets

The NASA Airborne Tropical Tropopause Experiment: High-Altitude Aircraft Measurements in the Tropical Western Pacific E. J. Jensen, L. Pfister, D. E. Jordan, T. V. Bui, R. Ueyama, H. B. Singh, T. D. Thornberry, A. W. Rollins, R. Gao, D. W. Fahey, K. H. Rosenlof, J. W. Elkins, G. S. Diskin, J. P. DiGangi, R. P. Lawson, S. Woods, E. L. Atlas, M. A. Navarro Rodriguez, S. C. Wofsy, J. Pittman, C. G. Bardeen, O. B. Toon, B. C. Kindel, P. A. Newman, M. J. McGill, D. L. Hlavka, L. R. Lait, M. R. Schoeberl, J. W. Bergman, H. B. Selkirk, M. J. Alexander, J. Kim, B. H. Lim, J. Stutz, and K. Pfeilsticker https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00263.1

Short summary

Using a simplified analytical setup, we show that the temperature and wind fluctuations due to an atmospheric gravity wave can induce a localization of ice crystals in a specific region of the wave. In that region, the air is nearly saturated and the vertical wind anomaly is positive. As a consequence, reversible gravity wave motions have an irreversible impact (mean upward motion) on the ice crystals. Our findings are consistent with observations of cirrus clouds near the tropical tropopause.