Analysis and modeling of atmospheric gravity waves observed in RADARSAT SAR images

Four case studies of RADARSAT synthetic aperture radar (SAR) observations of atmospheric gravity waves are presented to demonstrate SAR's capability to measure associated near surface wind field variations. A brief review of the main characteristics and scales of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) first establishes their importance in atmospheric dynamics. The shape and scale of the wave patterns observed in successive SAR images are compared with those calculated from AGW models. There is agreement between the small-scale wind variations across wave patterns in SAR images and the larger-scale wind field that plays a role in the generation of the observed waves. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.