Tropopausal Mountain Waves over Arecibo: A Case Study

Abstract

Vertically variable horizontal winds observd over Arecibo by to and Woodman, which were previously interpreted as a manifestation of inertia-gravity waves having intrinsic periods comparable to the local inertial period, are reinterpreted as quasi-stationary gravity waves of much shqrter intrinsic period, induced orographically by airflow over the island and mountains of Puerto Rico. The ellipticity of the Viated halograph is attributed to an effect of background wind shears in the presence of such waves. This new interpretation carries implicationsboth for the study of similar wind patterns elsewhere and for the reproducibility ofwind fields at Arecibo, where a natural laboratory for the study of mountain waves, of critical-layer interactions and of associated turbulence appears to be available.