Inertio-gravity wave

From Glossary of Meteorology



inertio-gravity wave

An internal gravity wave propagating under the influence of both buoyancy and Coriolis forces.

The dispersion relation is given by frequency
ams2001glos-Ie9
in which N is the buoyancy frequency, f is the Coriolis parameter, and kh and kv are the horizontal and vertical components, respectively, of the wavenumber vector k. For all wave-numbers, inertio-gravity waves have frequency smaller than N and greater than f. Their group velocity is perpendicular to the phase velocity such that the vertical component of the group velocity is opposite in sign to the vertical component of the phase velocity. For an upward propagating inertio-gravity wave in the Northern Hemisphere, the perturbation wind vector turns anticyclonically with height.


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