Large-Amplitude Inertia Gravity Waves Over Syowa Station: Comparison of PANSY Radar and ERA5 Reanalysis Data

Abstract

We examined large-amplitude inertia gravity waves (GWs) over Syowa Station, Antarctica using the PANSY (Program of the Antarctic Syowa MST/IS) radar data and the latest reanalysis (ECMWF reanalysis v5; ERA5) from October 2015 to September 2016. Focusing on large-amplitude events with large absolute momentum flux (AMF), hodograph analysis was applied to both data to estimate the wave parameters. It showed that the inertia GWs with a downward phase velocity becomes dominant in the stratosphere. Although their vertical wavelengths got shorter with altitude, their intrinsic periods and horizontal wavelengths got longer with altitude. In addition, their southward propagation was predominant in the stratosphere. Although height dependence of the estimated wave parameters is consistent with previous studies investigating inertia GWs over Syowa Station, some features specific to large-amplitude inertia GWs were also observed. The GW features obtained from PANSY were mostly consistent with those from ERA5 except for their amplitudes. Comparison of AMF between PANSY and ERA5 indicated that ERA5 significantly underestimated the AMF by a factor of 5 between 5 and 12.5 km altitudes and more above 12.5 km. Difference of horizontal and vertical wind power spectra between PANSY and ERA5 is quantitatively consistent with the difference of AMF and its height dependence. It was found that underestimation of vertical wind spectra primarily contributed to the underestimation of AMF in ERA5. The greater underestimation of AMF in the stratosphere might be due to larger vertical grid spacing in ERA5 and the shorter vertical wavelengths of the dominant GWs in the stratosphere.