Articles | Volume 15, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022
Research article
 | 
08 Dec 2022
Research article |  | 08 Dec 2022

Satellite observations of gravity wave momentum flux in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT): feasibility and requirements

Qiuyu Chen, Konstantin Ntokas, Björn Linder, Lukas Krasauskas, Manfred Ern, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Erich Becker, Martin Kaufmann, and Martin Riese

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Cited articles

Alexander, M. J.: Global and seasonal variations in three-dimensional gravity wave momentum flux from satellite limb-sounding temperatures, Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 6860–6867, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL065234, 2015. a
Alexander, M. J. and Dunkerton, T. J.: A spectral parameterization of mean-flow forcing due to breaking gravity waves, J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 4167–4182, 1999. a
Alexander, M. J., Gille, J., Cavanaugh, C., Coffey, M., Craig, C., Dean, V., Eden, T., Francis, G., Halvorson, C., Hannigan, J., Khosravi, R., Kinnison, D., Lee, H., Massie, S., and Nardi, B.: Global estimates of gravity wave momentum flux from High Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS) observations, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D15S18, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008807, 2008. a
Barth, C. A. and Hildebrandt, A. F.: The 5577 A airglow emission mechanism, J. Geophys. Res., 66, 985–986, https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ066i003p00985, 1961. a
Becker, E. and Vadas, S. L.: Secondary Gravity Waves in the Winter Mesosphere: Results From a High-Resolution Global Circulation Model, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 123, 2605–2627, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027460, 2018. a, b
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Short summary
Observations of phase speed and direction spectra as well as zonal mean net gravity wave momentum flux are required to understand how gravity waves reach the mesosphere–lower thermosphere and how they there interact with background flow. To this end we propose flying two CubeSats, each deploying a spatial heterodyne spectrometer for limb observation of the airglow. End-to-end simulations demonstrate that individual gravity waves are retrieved faithfully for the expected instrument performance.
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