Ozone–gravity wave interaction in the upper stratosphere/lower mesosphere

Abstract

Abstract. The increase in amplitudes of upward propagating gravity waves (GWs) with height due to decreasing density is usually described by exponential growth. Recent measurements show some evidence that the upper stratospheric/lower mesospheric gravity wave potential energy density (GWPED) increases more strongly during the daytime than during the nighttime. This paper suggests that ozone–gravity wave interaction can principally produce such a phenomenon. The coupling between ozone-photochemistry and temperature is particularly strong in the upper stratosphere where the time–mean ozone mixing ratio decreases with height. Therefore, an initial ascent (or descent) of an air parcel must lead to an increase (or decrease) in ozone and in the heating rate compared to the environment, and, hence, to an amplification of the initial wave perturbation. Standard solutions of upward propagating GWs with linear ozone–temperature coupling are formulated, suggesting amplitude amplifications at a specific level during daytime of 5 % to 15 % for low-frequency GWs (periods ≥4 h), as a function of the intrinsic frequency which decreases if ozone–temperature coupling is included. Subsequently, the cumulative amplification during the upward level-by-level propagation leads to much stronger GW amplitudes at upper mesospheric altitudes, i.e., for single low-frequency GWs, up to a factor of 1.5 to 3 in the temperature perturbations and 3 to 9 in the GWPED increasing from summer low to polar latitudes. Consequently, the mean GWPED of a representative range of mesoscale GWs (horizontal wavelengths between 200 and 1100 km, vertical wavelengths between 3 and 9 km) is stronger by a factor of 1.7 to 3.4 (2 to 50 J kg−1, or 2 % to 50 % in relation to the observed order of 100 J kg−1, assuming initial GW perturbations of 1 to 2 K in the middle stratosphere). Conclusively, the identified process might be an important component in the middle atmospheric circulation, which has not been considered up to now.