JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 86, NO.

CI0, PAGES 9715-9721, OCTOBER 20, 1981

Lidar ObservationOf Gravity And Tidal Waves In The StratosphereAnd

Mesosphere
MARIE-LISE CHANIN AND ALAIN HAUCHECORNE

Service d'•4bronomiedu CNRS, 91370 l/erribres-le-Buisson,France

Lidar measurements of atmosphericdensityand temperaturein the altitude range30-to 80 km have

beenperformedduringthe last 2 yearsfrom the Observatoryof Haute-Provence(latitude44øN, longi-
tude, 6øE). The potentialof this techniquefor studyingthe middle atmosphericstructureis presented
and preliminaryresultson wavepropagationare discussed. It is shownthat wave-likestructures
are ob-
servedsystematically in this height range. Fourier analysisindicatesthat most of the energyis trans-
portedby wavesof verticalwavelengths on the orderof 8 to 15 km. The amplitudeof the densityvaria-
tionsis shownto follow a p-•/2 law up to 70 km. The characteristics of the observeddensitywaves
suggest that they are causedby a superposition of internalgravitywavespropagatingupwardfrom the
troposphere and a diurnaltide componentin the range30--50km. Suchwavesare able to inducequite
significant
perturbations in atmospheric densityandthereforetemperature on an hourlybasis.The Lidar
techniqueis able to monitorthosevariationsfor the first time from a groundstationoperatingcontinu-
ously.

INTRODUCTION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Theatmospheric
density
profiles
areexpected
topresent Foranatmosphere
freeofaerosols,
thelightbackscattered
wave-like
structures
dueto gravitywaveperturbations.
Their by theatmospherefroma laserbeanis dueto Rayleighscat-
characteristics
havebeencalculated
by meansof perturbation teringby atmospheric
molecules,
unlessthe emittedwave-
theory[Hines,1960]andhavebeenobserved
by rocket length
coincides
witha resonance
lineofatmospheric
constit-
[Favreet al., 1974;Phillbricket al., 1974].Calculationandex- uents.To optimizethe lidar systemto measureneutraldensity
perimentaldata are in satisfactory agreement; but, up to now, we should take into accountthe •-4 variation of Rayleigh
only rocketdata have beenavailableand only sporadically. crosssection,the energyper pulseof the laser,its repetition
Therefore it has been difficult to follow the wave propagation rate, and the quantumefficiencyof the receiverat the laser
and to describeall its characteristics. wavelength. Rapidlyevolvinglasertechnologyprecludes a de-
The resultspresentedhere by usingLidar soundingfrom finitive answerfor such an optimization, but at the present
thegroundcanbe obtainedon a continuous basis,offeringthe timetheoptimalspectralrangeappearsto lie around500nm.
newpossibility of studyingthe wavepropagation and its con- In a first step,the atmosphericdensityprofileswere ob-
sequences on thetemperature anddensityof themiddleatmo- tained from the lidar stationset up to studythe mesospheric
sphere.In the Lidar method,the lightfrom a laserpulsesent alkali atoms at the Observatoryof Haute Provence. Two
verticallythroughthe atmosphere is backscatteredby mole- wavelengths wereusedcorresponding to the sodiumor lith-
culresin the atmosphere or by any otherparticleswhichmay ium resonanceat 589 and 670 nm, respectively.The descrip-
be presentin the laserbeampath. This techniquehas been tion of thislidar facilityhasbeengivenin earlierpublications
usedfor more than a decadewith the purposeof measuring [MegieandBlamont,1977;Jegouet al., 1980]andis summa-
atmosphericparametersabove 70 kin. Kent and Keenliside rized in Table 1. The altituderangeis limited downwardby a
[1975]havereportedwhattheyinterpretasevidenceof tidal chopperdesigned for protectionof the photomultiplier and
modesin the atmospheri c densitybetween70 and 100kin. upwardby the signal-to-noise ratio. Most of the data have
However,most of the lidar resultson wave propagationhave beenobtainedduringnighttimeand soare all the datausedin
been obtained between 80 and 100 km from the resonance this analysis.
The extensionto daytimeis only recentand at
backscatter
fromsodium
atoms
[Blamont
etal., 1972;Kirchoff thepresent
timelimitedto a rangeof 50kin.Recently,
since
and Clemesha,1973;Richterand Sechrist,1979;Juramy et al., November 1979,the data have alsobeen obtainedwith a new
1981]. The resultspresentedhere are obtained in the 30-80 lidar stationdesignedfor troposphericand stratosphericmea-
km regionand are thereforethe first onesin this domain. surements and optimizedfor the detectionof Rayleighscatter-
Over the last 2 years,densityand temperaturebetween30 ing.Thisstation,setup alongside
thefirstone,usesfor density
and 80 km have been measured from our Lidar stations at the soundingsthe firstharmonicof a Nd-Yag laseremitting300
Observatoryof Haute Provencein France(44øN, 6øE). As re- mJ at 530 nm with a 10hz repetitionrate;the efficiencyis then
portedearlier,a comparison betweenlidar and rocketdata increased by a factorof 10.In thisstation,described in Table
showedthe two methodsto be compatible[Hauchecorneand 2, the measurements are not limited downwardbelow30 kin,
Chanin[1980]. Since then, the quality of the data has in- but,becauseof thepresence of stratospheric
aerosols, we have
creased,yieldingeither an improvementin accuracyor a re- only considered,up to now, the data above30 kin.
ductionof the spatialor temporalresolution.
We describethis LIDAR MEASUREMENTS OF DENSITY AND TEMPERATURE
techniqueand presentpreliminaryresultson wave propaga- IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE: EXPERIMENTAL LIMITS
tion measurements.
AND ACCURACY

In a previousarticle,[Hauchecorne
and Chanin,1980]the
Copyright¸ 1981by the AmericanGeophysical
Union. method to deduceatmosphericdensityfrom laser backscat-
Papernumber IC0682. 9715
0148-0227/81/001 C-0682501.00
9716 CHANIN AND HAUCHECORNE: LIDAR OBSERVATION OF GRAVITY AND TIDAL WAVES IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

TABLE 1. Major SystemParametersfor the Lidar Used for Night- DENSITY

time Mesospheric Studies at the Observatory of Haute Provence
(44øN, 6øE)
System I System2
Emitter
• 7o
Wavelength 589 nm 670 nm
Energy 1 J/pulse 0.8 J/pulse • 6o
Linewidth 8 pm 6 pm
Pulsewidth 3 #s 3,5/•s
Repetition rate 0.5-0, I Hz 1-2 Hz 5O
Divergence 2 x 10-3 tad 10-3 rad AT--
Divergence 2 x 10-4 tad 10-4 tad
(after collimation)

Telescopediameter
Receiver
0.818 m
0.515 m 2
40Az--3.6
30
Km
,
• I
02
, • ,
0.8
• .
0.9
• ,
1.0
• ,
1.1 1.2
,
1.3
Telescopearea
Field of view 5 x 10-4 rad p exp/p model.
(for nighttime)
Bandwidth 0.4 nm TEMPERATURE
Receivergate 8/•s (1, 2 km)
* Method: photon countingcombinedwith analogicalrecording.

tered signalhas been described.It shouldbe pointed out that,

due to the lack of an absolutecalibrationof the atmospheric
transmission,the density profile needsto be fitted either to a
theoreticalmodel or to other experimentaldata. The reference
used in this paper is the CIRA 1972 model that takes into ac-
count the seasonalvariation. The fitting of the experimental
data with this model is performed between30 and 35 kin. The
uncertaintyof the densitymeasurementis assumedto be the
statistical standard error. Up to the altitude where the sky
backgroundbecomesthe' same order of magnitude than the 220 240 260 280
laserbackscatteredecho,the error bar (shadedarea on the fig- TOK
November 15 1979
ures) represents1 standard deviation and is given by the
Fig. 1. Density and temperaturedata for the night of November
squareroot of the number of laserbackscatteredphotons.In 15-16, 1979,with 10 hoursintegrationtime and a vertical smoothing
the near future a reduction of the field of view of the receiver
of the data over 3.6 kin. (a) The ratio of experimentaldensityvalue to
will increasethe range of the measurements.The height reso- CIRA 72 model for November; (b) the experimentaltemperaturepro-
lution for all the measurementspresentedhere is either 0.6 or file (solid line) comparedto CIRA 72 model (dotted line). The shaded
1.2 kin, but a running averageover 6 or 3 points has been per- area correspondsto +1 standarddeviation.
formed to improve the accuracy,reducingthen the resolution
to 3.6 km (except in one case correspondingto Figure 4,
2a present two samplesof density profile as compared with
where the smoothingwas done over 9.6 kin). Figures la and
the adequate CIRA model for November 1979 and August
1980, respectively.In winter the discrepancywith the model
TABLE2. MajorSystem
Parameters
fortheLidarUsedforStrato-stayswithin20%,whilethesummer
profiledisagrees
by more
spheric
DensityMeasurements at theObservatory of HauteProvencethan 30% with the model above 70 kin. This disagreement
(44øN, 6øE) may be due to the inadequateposition of the altitude of the
Characteristicsof the System mesopause in the CIRA model, which is known not to be very
Emitter
adequate for the summersituation.
Wavelength 532nm As described in an earlier publication [Hauchecorneand
Energy 300 mJ Chanin, 1980], the atmospherictemperature profile can be
Linewidth 0.1nm computed from the density profile, assumingthat the atmo-
Pulsewidth 15ns
sphereobeysthe perfectgaslaw and is in hydrostaticequilib-
Repitition rate 10 Hz
3 x 10-4 rad rium. The atmosphericpressureat the upper limit of the mea-
Divergence
surements(90 kin) is fitted with the CIRA 72 model, and then
Receiver the temperature in absolutevalue can be deducedfrom 80 km
Telescopediameter 0.6 m downwardto 30 kin, even though the density measurements
Telescopearea 0.28 m 2
Field of view 5 x 10-3 rad
are only relative. The contribution of the extrapolatedpres-
(to be reduced)
sureuncertaintyto the temperaturevaluebecomesnegligible
Bandwidth after 10 kin. As a consequencethe range for the temperature
Receivergate measurementswill always be 10 km lower than for the den-
In photoncounting 4 t•s(600 m) sity. Two examplesof temperatureprofilesare given in Fig-
mode
ures lb and 2b for winter and summerperiods.The difference
In analogicalmode 1 #s (150 m)
with the CIRA 72 model below the stratopauseare, in both
 CHANIN AND HAUCIIECORNE: LIDAR OBSERVATION OF GRAVITY AND TIDAL WAVES IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE 9717

DENSITY
nance wavelength(670 nm), while the data reported in Figure
9O
2 were obtained with the new stationat 530 rim. The accuracy
in the lower part of the profiles is much improved with the
e 80
_

new station,owingto the gain in efficiencymentionedearlier;

but the quality of the data is still relatively poor above 60 km
:• 70 becauseof the high level of sky background that will be de-
creasedshortly by a factor of 100 after reduction of the field of
6o view.
Density and temperature accuracieswith a vertical resolu-
5o - AT= 7 Hours - tion of 3.6 km are presentedin Figure 3 for the two experi-
mental setsof data presentedin Figures 1 and 2, with 10 and 7
•.0 hours integration time, respectively.The accuracy, after the
above-mentionedimprovement,is also presentedfor 10 hours
30 integrationtime. The performancesof the method for any in-
0.5 0.6 0.? 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.t,
tegrationtime T can be deducedfor this figureasthe accuracy
p exp/p model. will be reducedby (10/T) w2.It shouldbe noticedthat the time
TEMPERATURE
resolutionof the measurementis the object of a trade off with
8O both the height resolutionand the accuracybut is not likely to
be limitedby the repetitionrateof the la•er(1-10 Hz). With
the performancesindicated in Figure 3 the lidar technique
should become a precioustool to study the thermal behavior
of the stratosphereand mesospherewith good temporal and
spatial resolution.
• 60 Several objectionsto the use of the method have been ne-
glectedin the precedingdiscussion.One of the most basic is
the assumptionthat between 30 and 80 km the atmosphereis
free of aerosols,which may create a contribution to the back-
•,0 Az= 3.6Km _ scattered signal by Mie scattering. This question can be
clearedup by working with two different wavelengths,as Mie

30'''''''''
200 220 2t,0
,••,/,/C,
260
ir•m,
od,,l.,
280
and Rayleigh scatteringprocessesvary very differently as a
function of wavelength. Several seriesof measurementswere
TOK performedat two differentwavelengths(670 and 530 nm) and
August 13 1980 gave simultaneousand very similar density measurements,
Fig. 2. As in Figure I for the •ght of August 13-14, 1980,•d a 7- even during the post Mount St. Helens eruption period, when
hour integration period. the level of stratosphericaerosolswas much higher than usual.
Figure 4 presentsthe ratio of the two density measurements
deducedat the two wavelengthsand indicatesthat the agree-
cases,quite large when comparedto the standarddeviation ment is within the limits of their respectiveaccuracy. But, a
and are still significantabove the stratopausein Figure lb. spotcheckat two wavelengthsshouldbe performed at regular
The densityand temperatureprofilespresentedin Figure 1 intervalsto rule out a possiblecontribution of meteorericdust
were obtained with the first lidar station at the lithium reso- or clusters at the 80 km level.

- _

_ ////•,.
./•"'"'•
6O
_ //
/i///
/./'
5O
- ///•.//
•0 -
3O

o.1
......
, ........
1
, lO o.1
i i ! , it,ll
1
i ! i • i,ill

lO
i i i i iilL

lOO
Density accuracy % Temperoture occurocy øK
Fig. 3. Densityandtemperature accuracy
asa functionof heightfor 1•-- 670nm, AT = 10hour(dash-dotted line);for
= 530nm, AT -- 7 hour(solidline) asexpectedat )• -- 530nm andAT- 10hoursafterreductionof fieldof viewdown to
x 10-4 tad. (dottedline).
9718 CHANINAND HAUCHECORNE:
LIDAR OBSERVATION
OF GRAVITYAND TIDAL WAVESIN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

pendentiy
of theseason
andforanyintegration
timeranging
70 from a few minutes up to a few hours. Figure 5 presentstwo
examplesof such profiles:the winter profile (Figure 5a) ob-
• 6o tained at 670 nm with 2 hours integration time, the summer
one (Figure 5b) at 530 nm with half an hour integrationtime.
All of the profilesthat have been recordedin the last 2 years
of measurements exhibit such a wave-like structure. The den-
5o
sity oscillates around an average profile with amplitude
reaching5% of the ambient densityat 50 km and up to 15%at
70 km. This increasein the amplitude of the perturbationwith
•,0
height is a characteristicfeature of all our data. For most of
the altitude rangeup to 70 km, the amplitudesof the density
variationare largerthan the standarddeviationand thus can
30
0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 be consideredas significant.
p 670 nm/p 530 nm CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WAVE PROPAGATION
Fig.4. Comparison
between
density
profiles
obtained
at 670and
530 nm with an integrationtime of 2 hoursand a verticalsmoothing The improvementin temporalresolutionof the densitypro-
over 9.6 kin. file has been an important step forward in the study of the
wave propagation.The profilesobtainedrecently(Figures6a,
6b, 6c) exhibit very well-definedstructuresindicatingclearly a
The other limits of this method are its restriction to clear downwardpropagationof the phasebetween40 and 75 kin.
weatherconditionsand to nighttime.There is little to be done From this figure we deducea vertical wavelengthof 7.5 kin.
about the first limit becausethe improvementof working at The amplitudesof the oscillationsaround the mean density,
infraredwavelengths (10.6/an) is canceledby a tremendous increasingwith height as mentionedbefore, can be studiedas
reductionof range.On the otherhand, the restrictionof the a functionof height.From suchset of data it has been shown
measurements to nighttimecan be overcome.Our grouphas (Figure6a) that, between40 and 70 kin, the amplitudevaries
recentlyobserved the sodiumdaytimeemission with a signal- in 10-1/2, p beingthe ambientdensity,as expectedfrom atmo-
to-noiseratio of 50, and the Rayleigh scatteringis then mea- spheric wave theory.(This conditionis necessary for kinetic
suredup to 50 km. Thesedaytimemeasurements arestillpre- energy conservation.)From a series
of such hourly profileswe
have been able to describe some of the characteristics of the
liminary,but theyencourage
usin seeking to obtaindaytime
waves observed.
densityand temperatureprofilesat leastup to 50 km in the
near future. This will be valuablefor studyingwave propaga- To presenta global picturefor the full periodsof observa-
tion and diurnal variation of stratospherictemperature. tion and to highlight somefeature of the wave propagation
the density variations are presented as isopleths of per-
EVIDENCE OF WAVE PROPAGATION turbations about the mean value calculated for the whole
The densityprofilespresented
in FiguresI and2 wereob- night. Amplitude of the variation has been correctedfor the
tained with an integrationtime of 10 and 7 hours, respec- p-l/2 variationin all the followingcontourmaps.Densityin-
tively.The largedifferencewith the modelhasa tendencyto creases,correspondingto p > rS,are representedby positive
hidethe oscillatingstructureof the profile.In what follows,to values and are indicated on the maps by the shaded areas,
studythetemporalbehaviorof the densityprofilethe experi- while data correspondingto negativeperturbations(p _<IS)are
mental data are normalized to the whole night averagevalue indicated by the clear zones. Isopleths of the density per-
fl. Wave-likestructures
appear,then,on all the profilesinde- turbationsAp are plottedby stepsof 2 x 10-2 (g m-a)!/2 for

8O

7o

• •0

50

•0

30 ,i .... i ........ • .... i ....

0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1A 1.5 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3
p exp/•' p exp/•

(•) November16 1979 • June 2? 1980

Fig. 5. Individual
densityprofiles
p normalized
to theaveraged nighttime
density fl. (a) Obtained
with2 hoursin-
tegration
timeonNovember 16,1980;(b) withhalfanhourintegration
timeonJune27, 1980.
 CHANIN AND HAUCHECORNE: LIDAR OBSERVATION OF GRAVITY AND TIDAL WAVES IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE 9719

80
.• 70
:• 60

5O

4O

3O ß I
0.7
.
0.8
I ,
0.9
I ,
1.0
ß
,
1.1
I ,
1.2
I
13
I
0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.i 1.2 1.3 1./. 0.8 0.9
I 01'12-
1.0
02'
12
. I

1.1
, i

1.2
.

1.3
i . i

1./.
p exp/•

August 13 -14 1980

Fig.6. Series
of threedensity
profiles
normalized
to thenighttime
profileduringthenightof August13-14,1980.
Wavesstructures
areidentifiedandindicatedby numbersI to 5. Representation
of thep-l/2 law on Figure6a wascalcu-
lated with Ap/p = 2% at 50 km.

the quantityAp X •O
-1/2. The data presentedhere correspond indicatesa 3-4 hour period. From 50 km downward, the same
to three different periods of the year, November (Figure 7),
June (Figure 8), and August(Figure 9), and do not indicate
any obviousseasonalvariation. It should be mentioned that
data obtainedduring stratosphericwarmingshave been delib-
erately excluded becauseof the influence of planetary wave
over powering the influence of gravity waves, and those data
are presented in another article [Hauchecorneand Chanin,
1981]. A general feature in all the data is the evidence of a
downward phase propagation with a phase velocity varying
with height. Between 50 and 70 km a phasevelocity of about 4
km/hour associatedwith vertical wavelengthsof about 8 km
I I I I
.
structuresare sometimespresent,but, in most cases,they are
hidden by a much slowerphasedescent(--•0.5km/hour), half
a period during the night, indicating a 24-hour period (Fig-
ures7, 8, 9). The number of data available to build suchmaps
is still too limited to perform a statistical study of the wave
propagation,but the examplespresentedhere give a first in-
dication of the variation of density, and therefore temper-
ature, in the stratosphereand mesosphereon an hourly basis.
More accurate information about the vertical wavelength
of the densitywaveshave been derived from the lidar data by
using the Fourier analysistechniquein the range 30-70 km.
The analysiswas performed by smoothingthe extreme limits
of the height range by using a Blackman window to eliminate
I I I I '

ghosts.The analysisof 10 setsof data indicates that most of

-• 8O
the time two componentsare presentin the energy spectrum,
..

but the larger part of the spectralenergy is always found for

vertical wavelengthsranging from 8 to 15 km. The secondary
maximum correspondseither to a shorter wavelength in sum-
<[ 70
mer (6-8 km) or to a longer one in winter (20-27 km). As in-
dicated on the two spectraof Figure 10, the relative impor-
65

6o
._.70 i i i i i

E
ß 55

5o
• 60

/.5

4o 5O
:.

.:.

35
i i I I I I I

22 23 O0 01 02 03 04 05 4O
Time GHT

November 15 November 16 1979 / 22 23 00 01 02

,I i

21 22
i i

23
i

00
i

01 02
Fig. 7. Map contour of density perturbations from the mean
Time GNT Time 6MT
nighttimevalue for the night of November 15-16. The amplitude of
the perturbation
is correctedby p-l/2 and contourlines(solid)are June 261980l June 271980 June281980 I Jun,291980
plottedby stepof 2x10-2 (g m-3)•/2. The zeroperturbationline is
representedby a solid heavy line that separatesthe clear area (de- Fig. 8. As in Figure 7 exceptfor the nightsof (a) June 26-27, 1980,
creaseof density)from the shadedarea (positiveperturbations). and (b) June 28-29, 1980.
9720 CHANIN AND HAUCHECORNE: LIDAR OBSERVATION OF GRAVITY AND TIDAL WAVES IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

ible with gravitywaves,and the downwardphasevelocityin-

dicatesthat the observedvariation could be explainedby a
gravity wave generatedin the troposphereand propagating
upward. To confirm this hypothesisit is necessaryto check
whether the characteristicsof the observed density per-
turbationscan be explained by internal gravity waves.
From the seriesof density profiles obtained on August 13,
1980 (Figure 6), the characteristicsof such a gravity wave
have been completely describedand the values of the differ-
ent physicalquantitiesrelatedwith sucha wave (wind, energy
flux) are in agreementwith what is expectedin this height
range.The whole seriesof profilesrecordedduring the night
of August 13-14, 1980,from which three profilesare shownon
Figure 6 indicates a vertical wavelength of 7.5 _+ I km, a
21 22 23 00 01 02 03 21 22 23 00 01 02 03 phasevelocity of 2.2 _+0.1 km/H leading to a period of 3«
Time 6blT Time GMT hours. It was verified on that specificexample that between40
August
121980I August
131980August
131980
JAugust
1/,1980 and 60 km, the amplitude of the oscillationswas constant if
correctedby p-•/2 and the averagevalue of the productAp x
Fig. 9. Asin Figure7 except
forthenights
of (a) August12-13and p-•/2 wason the orderof 2 x 10-2 (g m-3)•/2corresponding
to
(b)August
13-14,
1980. a variation
of2%oftheatmospheric
density
at50kin.Thein-
creaseof the amplitude of the densityoscillationabove 60 km
will be discussed later.
tance of the energy at the two wavelengthsis highly variable. From those experimental data one can estimate the hori-
In the caseof August 12, 1980(Figure 10a), two vertical wave- zontal wavelengthtaking into accountthe simple relationship
lengthsare sharply defined at 6 and 14 kin. On June 26 (Fig- betweenthe horizontal and vertical wavelengths()•x and
ure 10b)all the spectralenergyis found for a wavelengthof respectively)
for sucha gravitywave.Assuminga BruntVais-
12.5 km, as it can be guessedfrom the vertical profile repre- ala period Tev of 360 s at 50 kin, the relationship
sented on Figure 5b.
Note that the frequently occurringvertical wavelengths(8-
15 kin) is identical to the wavelengthsobservedin the vertical lOO
motion field in the same altitude range by Weismanand Oli-
vero [1979], even though their data refer to the equatorial re- August 12 1980
gion. E 80 30- 70 krn

DISCUSSION

Even thoughthe resultsare preliminary and the data set too

limited to allow a statisticalstudy, it appearsthat two systems
of waves are present in this height range: tidal and gravity • 40 -
waves.

The existenceof waves propagatingupward with a 24-hour

periodin the altituderange30-50 km led us to think that such
waves should be from tidal origin. A theoreticalcalculationof
the amplitude and phaseof the densityvariationsdue to tidal ta 0 ß
0 0.1 0.2 0.3
waveswas performedto checkif the characteristicsof the pre- km -1
dicted waves would be in agreement with the observations.
The calculation was basedupon the Lindzen [1967] theory in lOO
which the temperature profile was taken from the U.S. Stan-
dard Atmosphere. If the 24-hour period wave observed be-
tween 30 and 50 km is to be explainedby the diurnal tide, one eo
_ /• June
261980(•)_
• .

should expectfrom the theory a decreaseof the density during

the night with an amplitude increasingwith altitude (forced 60
_

componentof the diurnal tide). Both the averagedensity de-

creasebetween35 and 45 km (•1% in 6 hours,Figure 9) and
•o
_

the phase(maximum of densityat the beginningof the night)

are in agreementwith the tidal theory. But it should be men-
tioned that the normalization of the density profiles between 20
_

30 and 35 km may mask the expecteddensitydecreaseand in-

dicate an artificial phasedescent(Figure 8a). o
ß

Both phase and amplitude disagreewith a tidal model for 0 0.1 o.2 o.3
the 4-4 hour period waves observedabove 45 kin, but, on the km -1
other hand, as it has been shown earlier, the amplitude of
thosewavesobey the p-•/2 law (as expectedfrom internal Fig. 10. Spectralenergy as a function of the inverseof the vertical
gravity waves). The range of vertical wavelengthsis cornpat- wavelengthfor (a) August 12, 1980, and (b) June 26, 1980.
 CHANIN AND HAUCHECORNE.'LIDAR OBSERVATIONOF GRAVITY AND TIDAL WAVES IN THE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE 9721

• T d'A6ronomie for their contribution in collectingthe data. This work

wassupportedby D.R.E.T. undercontract77 280 and 79 442.

leadsto an horizontalwavelengthof 260 km. One can alsoes- REFERENCES

timate the horizontal wind velocity associatedwith such a Blamont,J. E., M. L. Chanin, and G. M6gie, Vertical distributionand
densityvariation.From Hines [1960],the variation of the hori- temperatureprofile of the nighttimeatmosphericsodiumlayer ob-
zontalwind componentA v and the variationof the densityAp tained by laserscattering,Ann. Geophys.,28, 833-838, 1972.
is given by Favre, A. C., E. A. Murphy, and R. O. Olson, Atmosphericdensity
temperatureand windsmeasuredduring Aladdin II, in SpaceRe-
C Ap searchXIV, p. 97, Akademie-Verlag,Berlin, 1974.
/iV-- • Gossard,E. E., Vertical flux of energyinto the lower ionospherefrom
(7- 1)•/2 P internal gravity waves generatedin the troposphere,J. Geophys.
Res., 67, 745, 1962.
whereC is the soundspeed330m s-• at 50 km and 7 -- Cp/Cv Groves,G. V., Seasonaland diurnal vairationsof middle atmosphere
is the ratio of heat capacities:7/5 for the air. winds, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London, Set. A, 296, 19-40, 1980.
Then it appearsthat a densityvariation of 2% corresponds Hauchecorne,A., and M. L. Chanin, Density and temperaturepro-
to a wave-induced horizontalwind velocityof 10 m s-• value filesobtainedby lidar between30 and 80 km, Geophys. Res.Left., 7,
565, 1980.
that is very reasonableat 50 km [Groves,1980]. Hauchecorne,A., and M. L. Chanin, Le Lidar: Un instrument d'6tude
The the upward propagatingenergyflux Fz, can be calcu- de la temp6raturestratosph6riqueat m6sosph6rique,Notes C. R.
lated from the relation Acad Sci., Paris, 292, 1981.
Hines, C. O., Internal atmospheric gravity waves at ionospheric
heights,Can.J. Phys.,38, 1441, 1960.
1 a-•----
Fz---•-pA• •z 217-'
C• (Ap
Xp-•/2)
•
-• Jegou,J.P., M. L. Charfin,G. M6gie,andJ. E. BlamontLidarmea-
surementsof atmosphericlithium, Geophys.
Res.Lett., 7, 995-998,
1980.
and is foundto be equalto 3 x 10-2 W m-2 value,which is
Juramy,P., M. L. Chanin,G. M6gie,G. F. Toulinov,andY. P. Dou-
compatible with the valueof 10-• W m-2 for the flux coming doladov,Lidar soundingof the mesospheric sodiumlayer at high
out of the troposphere,as given by Gossard[1962]. latitude,submittedto J. Atmos.Terr. Phys.,43, 209-215, 1981.
The large amplitude of the densityperturbation observed Kent,G. S.,andW. Keenliside, Laserradarobservations of theO3TM
above70 km (up to 20% of the averagedensity)shouldstill be diurnalatmospheric tidal madeaboveKingston,Jamaica,J. Atmos.
looked at with caution until the accuracyof the measurements Sci., 32, 1663-1666, 1975.
Kirchoff, V. W. J. H., and B. R. Clemesha,Atmosphericsodium
in that height range is improved.However, a differentatmo- measurements at 23ø S, J. Atmos.Terr. Phys.,35, 1493-1498, 1973.
sphericbehavioris not surprisingabove70 km wherethe up- Lindzen,R. S., Thermallydrivendiurnaltide in the atmosphere, Q. J.
ward propagatinginternal gravitywavesmay degenerateinto R. Meteorol. Soc., 93, 18-42, 1973.
turbulence. One should also consider the possible super- Lindzen,R. S., Thermallydrivendiurnaltide in the atmosphere,Q. J.
R. Meteorol. Soc., 93, 18-42, 1967.
positionin that heightrangeof gravitywaveof thermospheric
M6gie,G., andJ. E. Blamont,Lasersounding of atmospheric sodium:
and troposphericorigins.This aspectshouldbe investigated Interpretation in termsof globalatmospheric parameters, Planet.
with data of better quality that are expectedin that altitude SpaceSci., 25, 1093-1109,1977.
rangein a near future. Phillbrick,C. R., D. Golomb, S. P. Zimmerman,T. J. Keneshea,M.
A. Mac Lead, R. I. Good, B. S. Dandkar, and B. W. Reinisch,The
CONCLUSION AladdinII experiment,
II, Composition,
in SpaceResearch
XIV, p.
89, Akademie-Verlag,Berlin 1974.
Densityprofilesobtainedfrom lidar soundingshave shown Richter,E.S.,and C.F.Sechrist, Jr.,Geophys.Res.Left.,
6,183, 1979.
systematicwave-likestructures.Suchdensityperturbationare Rowlett,J. R., G. S. Gardner,E. S. Richter,andC. F. Sechrist
Jr., Li-
interpretedasa superposition
of internalgravitywavespropa- dar observations of wavelike structurein the atmosphericsodium
gatingupwardfrom the troposphere in the altituderange30- layer,Geophys. Res.Left., 5, 683-686,!978.
Weisman,M. L., and J. J. Olivero,Evidencefor verticalmotionsin
70 km and diurnal tides between 30 and 50 kin. Propagation the equatorial
middleatmosphere,
J. Atmos.Sci.,36, 2169-2182,
of such waves as well as their influence on the atmospheric 1979.
densityand temperaturecan now be studiedon a continuous
basisby lidar soundingsfrom the ground.
,•cknowledgments.The authorswish to thank C. Fehrenbach,Di- (ReceivedSeptember30, 1981;
rector of the Haute ProvenceObservatory,for his hospitality. They revisedFebruary 17, 1981;
are very grateful to all the membersof the lidar team of the Service acceptedApril 13, 1981.)