Rarely Seen Gravity Waves Captured Rippling in Earth’s Atmosphere

Science Alert  October 28, 2019
Gravity waves, also known as buoyancy waves, are a physical phenomenon where waves are generated in any fluid medium, such as waves at the beach, or ripples in a glass of water. They also take place in gases, like our atmosphere, and are called gravity waves because gravity is the force that restores equilibrium. In the atmosphere, they are generally created by obstructions to airflow, such as mountain ranges (on Venus, this creates enormous atmospheric waves), and by collisions between air masses of different temperatures. The latter is what caused the waves over Western Australia. There was a big thunderstorm over the north-west of WA and the disturbance in this case was the cold air falling out of the thunderstorm and into the warmer air near the surface. The difference in density there causes the disturbance and then the gravity wave can travel out as the cold air spreads out. The disturbance will exist until everything rebalances itself, that’s why they can travel a long way…read more. Video

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