"Gravity wave spectra morphology in the Arctic and non-Arctic lower atmosphere" by Melanie C. Wright
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Physics

Supervisor

Wayne K. Hocking

Abstract

The spectral analysis of data from three VHF radars (one high-Arctic and two mid-latitudes) show support for the universal spectrum theory for gravity waves in the lower atmosphere (altitudes of 2.0-11.0 km), provided that the impact of the off-vertical beam and noise are taken into consideration. This analysis also reveals that local gravity wave generation is of secondary importance, but still significant for determining the spectra.

A total of eight spectral methods were considered and scrutinized for the purposes of determining gravity wave spectra from VHF radar data. A definition for the “best” method was given and examined. The method selected as the “best” for the analysis presented was a date-compensated discrete Fourier transform with a Hamming window.

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