Generation of gravity waves from thermal tides in the Venus atmosphere

Gravity waves play essential roles in the terrestrial atmosphere because they propagate far from source regions and transport momentum and energy globally. Gravity waves are also observed in the Venus atmosphere, but their characteristics have been poorly understood. Here we demonstrate activities of small-scale gravity waves using a high-resolution Venus general circulation model with less than 20 and 0.25km in the horizontal and vertical grid intervals, respectively. We find spontaneous gravity wave radiation from nearly balanced flows. In the upper cloud layer (similar to 70km), the thermal tides in the super-rotation are primary sources of small-scale gravity waves in the low-latitudes. Baroclinic/barotropic waves are also essential sources in the mid- and high-latitudes. The small-scale gravity waves affect the three-dimensional structure of the super-rotation and contribute to material mixing through their breaking processes. They propagate vertically and transport momentum globally, which decelerates the super-rotation in the upper cloud layer (similar to 70km) and accelerates it above similar to 80km. Gravity waves are observed in Venus atmosphere, but their characteristics are not well-known. Here, the authors show spontaneous generation of gravity waves from the thermal tides in the Venus atmosphere as small-scale gravity waves are resolved in high-resolution general circulation model.

Automated summary

Gravity waves play essential roles in the terrestrial and Venus atmosphere by propagating globally and transferring momentum and energy. The small-scale gravity waves are generated spontaneously from thermal tides in Venus atmosphere, acting as primary sources in low latitudes and essential sources in mid- and high latitudes. These waves affect the three-dimensional structure of super-rotation and contribute to material mixing through breaking processes.