Convective Gravity Waves in the Stratosphere (CGWaves)
Temperature anomalies at 35 km height caused by clusters of thunderstorms across the upper midwest, as revealed by simulations with the WRF model.
Convective Gravity Waves in the Stratosphere (CGWaves) was a 5 year research project supported by the National Science Foundation. The goal was to observe, simulate, and understand atmospheric gravity waves produced by thunderstorms that propagate upward into the stratosphere. In May and June of 2025, the CGWaveS field campaign flew 13 research flights on the NSF-NCAR G-V aircraft out of Des Moines, Iowa. The aircraft was equipped with an upward pointing lidar and OH layer imagers to detect and measure gravity waves above the nearby storms. CGWaveS research on the resulting data sets is continuing.
Some recent publications:
Nolan, D. S., and Y. Dai, 2025: The stratospheric gravity wave field produced by a supercell. Quarterly Journal of theRoyal Meteorological Society,151, e70046. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.70046.
Dai, Y., and D. S. Nolan, 2025: On the efficiency of stratospheric gravity wave production from mid-latitude convective systems: 2D versus 3D dynamics. Q. J Roy. Meterol. Soc., 151, e4980. https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4980.
