Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The circulation of the atmosphere has profound impact on the lives of citizens of both Canada and the world generally. It knows no human-designated borders, and effects at any one location are intricately entwined with impacts and consequences at other locations. Atmospheric waves play a particularly important role in communicating between different regions of the atmosphere. As examples of long-range interactions, waves generated by flow of air over the Andes Mountains can impact circulation in the stratosphere over the Atlantic Ocean, and Stratospheric jet-stream flows over the Rocky Mountains in North America produce perturbations and Low Pressure Systems which bring severe weather to north-eastern USA and Canada. In this project, the intent is to study these types of interactions, with particular focus on the waves and wave-like motions that are key drivers of the Earth's circulation, and the methods by which they transport momentum and energy. Our studies go beyond investigations of the lower regions of the atmosphere, and look at the Earth not only in global scope but also over altitude ranges from the ground to the edges of space (taken here to be around 100 km altitude). To perform these studies, we will use world-wide networks of dedicated atmospheric radars specially designed to measure these events, which include so-called ""gravity waves"", ""planetary waves"", and atmospheric tides. The resultant turbulence which develops when these waves break is also a subject of interest. I have not only developed these instruments and deployed them world-wide, but have also developed new experimental methods for measuring their impact, including measurements of key parameters like momentum flux deposition and drag. Such studies draw on my development of these radar networks over a 20-year time-frame, and the time is now at hand to capitalize on the benefits of these efforts with this extended study program.