During gravity wave breaking, heating rates are determined by wave advectio
n, turbulent diffusion, and turbulence dissipative heating. A series of num
erical experiments show that the total heating rates can be larg (similar t
o +/-10 Kh(-1)) and can cause large local temperature changes. The wave adv
ection causes dynamical cooling in most of the wave breaking region, consis
tent with previous studies. Nonuniform vertical turbulent diffusion causes
strong transient heating in the lower part of the wave breaking region and
cooling above. The dissipative heating rate is relatively small compared wi
th those due to the dynamical cooling and turbulent diffusion. In these num
erical experiments, zonal wind and temperature perturbations of the diurnal
tide and the zonal mean zonal wind and temperature compose the background
state for the computation. This is used to examine the idea that temperatur
e inversions, often observed in the mesosphere, are related to the gravity
wave and tidal wave interactions. The simulation results show that the larg
e temperature changes in this process can form temperature inversion layers
that progress downward with a speed similar to that of a diurnal tide phas
e speed, which clearly suggests the tidal modulation of the gravity wave an
d mean flow interactions. Such a process is dependent on season and latitud
e, because the background state stability varies with season and latitude.
The development of the temperature inversion is also affected by the gravit
y wave characteristics. It is also shown that the local mean wind, wind she
ar, and chemical species can undergo large changes accompanying the tempera
ture inversion.