MSX SATELLITE-OBSERVATIONS OF THUNDERSTORM-GENERATED GRAVITY-WAVES INMID-WAVE INFRARED IMAGES OF THE UPPER-STRATOSPHERE

Data from the Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) has provided the first observations of thunderstorm-generated gravity waves imaged from space . Gravity wave theory predicts that isolated, sufficiently convective thunderstorms can launch waves and create a unique intensity pattern o f concentric circles on a radiating surface of constant altitude above such a storm. Among the MSX constant-nadir-angle mid-wave infrared (M WIR) observations, two instances of such patterns have been identified . It was confirmed from meteorological satellite images that highly co nvective isolated thunderstorms occurred at the locations and times ex pected.