Review of the Current Research on Orographic and Non-Orographic Gravity Waves

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  • (College of Meteorology and Oceanography, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410000, China)
OUYANG Xinjie, research areas include the characteristics of non-orographic gravity waves. E-mail: 1836085732@163.com
HUANG Hong, research areas include Meso-scale weather dynamics and numerical forecasting. E-mail: hhong7782@sina.com

Online published: 2025-07-03

Supported by

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 4207050415).

Abstract

Abstract:Gravity Waves (GW) have a significant impact on the structure of the entire atmosphere and the coupling between atmospheric layers. Research on gravitational waves is of great importance for deepening our understanding of atmospheric dynamics and improving atmospheric models. Gravitational waves play a significant role not only in astronomy and physics but also in atmospheric science, where they are used to study phenomena such as airflow, waves, and climate change in the atmosphere.The review in this paper showed that: ① Satellites are suitable for observing the middle- and upper- layer atmosphere, radar is most advantageous for fine observations of vertical wave connections, and reanalysis data are more suitable for analyzing global GW characteristics; ② Compared to non-orographic gravity waves, orographic gravity waves have relatively longer vertical wavelengths and can generally propagate to higher altitudes; ③ Compared with non-orographic gravity waves, it is much more easy to tracing orographic gravity waves because of the relatively fixed wave source; ④ Using the common parameterization schemes can simulate the drag effect of orographic gravity waves well; using single wave and global spectral techniques can predict the east-west momentum flux of non-orographic gravity waves. However, it is still not possible to accurately simulate the entire process of generation and development of both types of GW. Overall, there is still much room for further improvement and exploration in the areas of observation, identification, feature analysis, and parameterization of GW. In the future, with the advancement of observation technology, more high-quality observational data will emerge, which will help to gain a clearer understanding of the characteristics of GW. Based on this, the progress in parameterization methods and the application of artificial intelligence technology are expected to deepen our understanding of the formation mechanisms of the two types of GW, thereby improving the accuracy of weather and climate simulation predictions.

Cite this article

OUYANG Xinjie, WANG Ju, HUANG Hong, WANG Lin . Review of the Current Research on Orographic and Non-Orographic Gravity Waves[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 0 : 1 . DOI: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2025.039

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