GRAVITY-WAVE ACTIVITY IN THE UPPER-STRATOSPHERE AND LOWER MESOSPHERE OBSERVED WITH THE RAYLEIGH LIDAR AT TSUKUBA, JAPAN

We delineated the climatological characteristics of the potential ener gy of gravity waves, E(p), using Rayleigh lidar observations made in 1 990-1991 at Tsukuba, Japan (36-degrees-N, 140-degrees-E). Tendency of large and small values of E(p) in winter and summer, respectively, was detected in the upper stratosphere (30-45 km), suggesting annual vari ation with a winter maximum. This annual cycle seemed to be consistent with lidar observations made in France and UK [Wilson et al., 1991; M itchell et al., 1991]. The obtained E(p) values in the upper stratosph ere and lower mesosphere (45-60 km) were rather similar to the French data, despite the large scatter of the Tsukuba values.