Lidar study of the characteristics of gravity waves in the mesopause region at a southern low-latitude location

Using the technique developed by Gardner and Voelz [1987. Lidar studies of the nighttime sodium layer over Urbana, Illinois, 2. Gravity waves. Journal of Geophysical Research 92, 4673–4693] and a new method proposed by us, two groups of gravity wave parameters are extracted from 11 years sodium lidar measurements made at a southern low-latitude location. The wave occurrence frequencies, wave parameter distributions, and wave parameter relationships are given and compared with other lidar observations. The different lidar derived results can be attributed to different atmospheric parameters. The characteristics of these two groups of gravity waves are also compared, as well as that predicted by diffusive filtering theory, and we find the gravity wave relationships derived from our method are in better agreement with diffusive filtering theory predictions.