Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 71-75). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1980. / Vita. Grant no.: OCE 73-01384. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-209).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 1980. / Supervised by Carl Wunsch. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 203-209).

Since the first discovery of an extrasolar planet around a solar-type star, observers have detected over 500 planets outside the solar system. Many of these planets have Jovian masses and orbit their host stars in orbits of only a few days, the so-called 'Hot Jupiters'. At such close proximity to their parent stars, strong tidal interactions between the two bodies are expected to cause significant secular spin-orbit evolution. This thesis tackles two problems regarding the tidal evolution of short-period extrasolar planets. In the first part, we adopt a simple model of the orbit-averaged effects of tidal friction, to study the tidal evolution of planets on inclined orbits. We also analyse the effects of stellar magnetic braking. We then discuss the implications of our results for the importance of Rossiter-Mclaughlin effect observations. In the second part, we study the mechanisms of tidal dissipation in solar-type stars. In particular, internal gravity waves are launched at the interface of the convection and radiation zones of such a star, by the tidal forcing of a short-period planet. The fate of these waves as they approach the centre of the star is studied, primarily using numerical simulations, in both two and three dimensions. We find that the waves undergo instability and break above a critical amplitude. A model for the tidal dissipation that results from this process is presented, and its validity is verified by numerical integrations of the linear tidal response, in an extensive set of stellar models. The dissipation is efficient, and varies by less than an order of magnitude between all solar-type stars, throughout their main-sequence lifetimes, for a given planetary orbit. The implications of this mechanism for the survival of short-period extrasolar planets is discussed, and we propose a possible explanation for the survival of all of the extrasolar planets currently observed in short-period orbits around F, G and K stars. We then perform a stability analysis of a standing internal gravity wave near the centre of a solar-type star, to understand the early stages of the wave breaking process in more detail, and to determine whether the waves are subject to weaker parametric instabilities, below the critical amplitude required for wave breaking. We discuss the relevance of our results to our explanation for the survival of short-period planets presented in the second part of this thesis. Finally, we propose an alternative mechanism of tidal dissipation, involving the gradual radiative damping of the waves. Based on a simple estimate, it appears that this occurs even for low mass planets. However, it is in conflict with current observations since it would threaten the survival of all planets in orbits shorter than 2 days. We discuss some hydrodynamic instabilities and magnetic stresses which may prevent this process.

Simulations of the circulation in the middle atmosphere during northern winter performed with a nonlinear, mechanistic, global circulation model show that the upper mesospheric jet is greatly overestimated and also the position with respect to latitude and height does not correspond to observations. Apart from that also the winter wind reversal in the mesopause region, evoked by breaking gravity waves (GWs), is located too low around 80km, but is observed to be usually around 100 km. These discrepancies are planned to be eliminated by modifying the distribution of GW amplitudes driving the GW parameterization. This distribution is currently based on potential GW energy data derived from GPS radio occultation measurements and has to be replaced by a distribution based on momentum flux estimates applying midfrequency approximation. The results show a weaker mesospheric jet more realistically tilted towards lower latitudes with height. Also the meridional circulation extending from the summer to the winter pole decelerates and less GWs are propagating into the mesosphere. By additionally varying the GW amplitudes in magnitude and time, the wind reversal is shifted upwards and the mesospheric jet is slowed down. / Simulationen der Zirkulation der mittleren Atmosphäre während des nordhemisphärischen Winters unter Verwendung eines nicht-linearen mechanistischen globalen Zirkulationsmodells ergaben beim Vergleich mit Messungen, dass der simulierte, mesosphärische Jet stark überschätzt wird und dessen Position von den Beobachtungen abweicht. Die in der Mesopausenregion einsetzende Windumkehr, hervorgerufen durch brechende Schwerewellen, befindet sich in etwa 80 km anstatt in 100 km. Diese Diskrepanzen sollen eliminiert werden. Hierfür wird die Verteilung der Schwerewellenamplituden, die die Schwerewellenparametrisierung innerhalb des Modells antreibt, am oberen Rand der Troposphäre modifiziert. Diese basiert derzeit auf global beobachteten, zonal gemittelten Daten der potentiellen Energie von Schwerewellen abgeleitet aus GPS Radiookkultationsmessungen und soll durch eine auf Impulsflüssen basierende Verteilung ersetzt werden. Das Modellexperiment zeigt, dass der mesosphärische Jet mit der Höhe in Richtung niedriger Breiten geneigt ist und abgebremst wird. Zudem schwächt die Meridionalzirkulation vom Sommer- zum Winterpol leicht ab und weniger Schwerewellen dringen bis in die Mesosphäre vor. Zusätzlich wird durch zeitliche und unterschiedlich starke Variation der Schwerewellenamplitude die Windumkehr verlagert und der mesosphärische Jet abgebremst.

Look up! Travelling over your head in the air are waves. They are present all the time in the atmosphere all over the Earth. Now imagine throwing a small rock in a pond and watching the ripples spread out around it. The same thing happens in the atmosphere except the rock is a thunderstorm, the wind blowing over a mountain, or another disturbance. As the wave (known as a gravity wave) travels upwards the thinning air allows the wave to grow larger and larger. Eventually the gravity wave gets too large – and like waves on the beach – it crashes causing whitewater or turbulence. If you are in the shallow water when the ocean wave crashes or breaks, you would feel the energy and momentum from the wave as it pushes or even knocks you over. In the atmosphere, when waves break they transfer their energy and momentum to the background wind changing its speed and even direction. This affects the circulation of the atmosphere. These atmospheric waves are not generally visible to the naked eye but by using special instruments we can observe their effects on the wind, temperature, density, and pressure of the atmosphere. This dissertation discusses the use of a specialized camera to study gravity waves as they travel through layers of the atmosphere 50 miles above the Andes Mountains and change the temperature. First, we introduce the layers of the atmosphere, the techniques used for observing these waves, and the mathematical theory and properties of these gravity waves. We then discuss the camera, its properties, and its unique feature of acquiring temperatures in the middle layer of the atmosphere. We introduce the observatory high in the Andes Mountains and why it was selected. We will look at the nightly fluctuations (or willy-nillyness) and long-term trends from August 2009 until December 2017. We compare measurements from the camera with similar measurements obtained from a satellite taken at the same altitude and measurements from the same camera when it was used at a different location, over Hawaii. Next, we measure the amount of change in the temperature and compare it to a nearby location on the other side of the Andes Mountains. Finally, we look for a specific type of gravity wave caused by wind blowing over the mountains called a mountain wave and perform statistics of those observed events over a period of six years. By understanding the changes in atmospheric properties caused by gravity waves we can learn more about their possible sources. By knowing their sources, we can better understand how much energy is being transported in the atmosphere, which in turn helps with better weather and climate models. Even now –all of this is going on over your head!

Thesis. 1978. M.S.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Meteorology. / Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science. / Bibliography: leaves 159-160. / M.S.

This doctoral dissertation has mainly concentrated on modeling studies of shorter period acoustic-gravity waves propagating in the upper atmosphere. Several cases have been investigated in the literature, which are focusing on the propagation characteristics of high-frequency gravity wave packets. The dissertation consists of five main divisions of which each has its own significance to be addressed, and these five chapters are also bridged in order with each other to present a theme about gravity wave ducting dynamics, energetics, and airglows. The first chapter is served as an introduction of the general topic about atmospheric acoustic-gravity waves. Some of the historical backgrounds are provided as an interesting refreshment and also as a motivation reasoning this scientific research for decades. A new 2-D, time-dependent, and nonlinear model is introduced in the second chapter (the AGE-TIP model, acronymically named atmospheric gravity waves for the Earth plus tides and planetary waves). The model is developed during this entire doctoral study and has carried out almost all research results in this dissertation. The third chapter is a model application for shorter period gravity waves ducted in a thermally stratified atmosphere. In spite of mean winds the thermal ducting occurs because ducted waves are fairly common occurrences in airglow observations. One-dimensional Fourier analysis is applied to identify the ducted wave modes that reside within multiple thermal ducts. Besides, the vertical energy flux and the wave kinetic energy density are derived as wave diagnostic variables to better understand the time-resolved vertical transport of wave energy in the presence of multiple thermal ductings. The fourth chapter is also a model application for shorter period gravity waves, but it instead addresses the propagation of high-frequency gravity waves in the presence of mean background wind shears. The wind structure acts as a significant directional filter to the wave spectra and hence causes noticeable azimuthal variations at higher altitudes. In addition to the spectral analysis applied previously the wave action has been used to interpret the energy coupling between the waves and the mean flow among some atmospheric regions, where the waves are suspected to extract energy from the mean flow at some altitudes and release it to other altitudes. The fifth chapter is a concrete and substantial step connecting theoretical studies and realistic observations through nonlinearly coupling wave dynamic model with airglow chemical reactions. Simulated O (1S) (557.7 nm) airglow images are provided so that they can be compared with observational airglow images. These simulated airglow brightness variations response accordingly with minor species density fluctuations, which are due to propagating and ducting nonlinear gravity waves within related airglow layers. The thermal and wind structures plus the seasonal and geographical variabilities could significantly influence the observed airglow images. By control modeling studies the simulations can be used to collate with concurrent observed data, so that the incoherencies among them could be very useful to discover unknown physical processes behind the observed wave scenes.

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