Thermally Induced Compression Waves and Gravity Waves Generated by Convective Storms

Abstract A three-dimensional, fully compressible cloud model is used to simulate a convective storm in order to investigate the properties of compression waves and gravity waves induced by latent heat release. Time series of the low-level pressure perturbations caused by the propagating waves are examined at various distances from the storm. A compression wave that is close to hydrostatic balance and can be considered to be a Lamb wave, which propagates in the horizontal plane, emerges from the storm. This latter property gives the wave a distinctly two-dimensional character that is clarified by comparison with a linear model of a two-dimensional thermally induced compression wave. This has implications for its shape and results in a decay rate with distance propagated from the source of 1/(distance)1/2. The period of the Lamb wave is determined primarily by the time it takes for the storm to develop and decay. The fast-moving Lamb wave is trailed by slower-moving thermally induced gravity waves. It is fo...

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