Analysis of Ducted Motions in the Stable Nocturnal Boundary Layer during CASES-99

Data obtained with multiple instruments at the main site of the 1999 Cooperative Atmosphere–Surface Exchange Study (CASES-99) are employed to examine the character and variability of wave motions occurring in the stable nocturnal boundary layer during the night of 14 October 1999. The predominant motions are surprisingly similar in character throughout the night, exhibiting largely westward propagation, horizontal wavelengths of ∼1 to 10 km, phase speeds slightly greater than the mean wind in the direction of propagation, and highly coherent vertical motions with no apparent phase progression with altitude. Additionally, vertical and horizontal velocities are in approximate quadrature and the largest amplitudes occur at elevated altitudes of maximum stratification. These motions are interpreted as ducted gravity waves that propagate along maxima of stratification and mean wind and that are evanescent above, and occasionally below, the altitudes at which they are ducted. Modal structures for ducted waves are computed for mean wind and stratification profiles for three specific cases and are seen to provide a plausible explanation of the observed motions.