Characteristics and sources of inertia-gravity waves revealed in the KEOP-2007 radiosonde data

Characteristics and sources of inertia-gravity waves are investigated using high-resolution radiosonde data observed at ten stations in Korea during 15 June to 15 July 2007. The wave analyses are performed in the lower stratospheric region (Z = 17-30 km). The average intrinsic frequency, vertical wavelength, and horizontal wavelength for the observed waves are 2.77f (where f is the Coriolis parameter), 2.58 km, and 620.11 km, respectively. The average eastward and westward momentum fluxes are 0.005 m² s^-2 and -0.003 m² s^-2, respectively, and the average northward and southward momentum fluxes are 0.007 m² s^-2 and -0.002 m² s^-2, respectively. To understand the propagation and the sources of the observed gravity waves, a three-dimensional ray-tracing model is used. The observed gravity waves are classified into two groups based on the existence of convection when and where the rays reach altitudes of 6-13 km. Sources are mostly located in the northeast and southeast of the observation stations below Z = 5 km for the convection-related cases (CONV), while those for the other cases (NCONV) are located in the northeast and southeast of the observation stations above Z = 20 km. The average intrinsic frequency and vertical wavelength of the CONV cases are somewhat larger than those of the NCONV cases. The average potential, kinetic, and total wave energies of the CONV cases are less than those of the NCONV cases.