The role of buoyancy–frequency oscillations in the generation of mountain gravity waves

There is evidence from balloon measurements that atmospheric buoyancy–frequency profiles, apart from a sharp increase (roughly by a factor of two) at the tropopause, often feature appreciable oscillations (typical wavelength 1–2 km) with altitude. It is argued here that such short-scale oscillatory variations of the background buoyancy frequency, which usually are ignored in theoretical models, can have a profound effect on the generation of mountain waves owing to a resonance mechanism that comes into play at certain wind speeds depending on the dominant oscillation wavelength. A simple linear model assuming small sinusoidal buoyancy–frequency oscillations suggests, and numerical solutions of the Euler equations for more realistic flow conditions confirm, that under resonant conditions the induced gravity-wave activity is significantly increased above and upstream of the mountain, similarly to resonant flow of finite depth over topography.