Analysis of trapped small-scale internal gravity waves automatically detected in satellite imagery

Abstract

In water vapor-sensitive satellite imagery, small-scale wave-like perturbations of brightness temperature can be attributed to the presence of trapped internal waves in the troposphere. We present a method for detecting these local perturbations with wavelengths of about 10 km and apply it to imagery from the Advanced Baseline Imager on board the geostationary satellite GOES-16. The algorithm allows us to analyze 4 years of sub-hourly data in the southern part of the tropical eastern Pacific, where only a relatively low amount of medium and high clouds obscures the scene. By combining a measure of wave activity/trapping with ERA5 reanalysis data, we connect the occurrence of trapping with th..