A Mountain Wave Theory including the Effect of the Vertical Variation of Wind and Stability

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Abstract
The motion over an infinitely long mountain ridge has been studied. The scale of the motion is assumed to be so small that the influence of the earth's rotation can be neglected. It is assumed further that the motion is non-viscous, laminar, steady and isentropic. The resulting wave equation is solved under the assumption that the coefficient which contains the vertical variation of the wind and temperature can be approximated by the function: ?0 exp(? ?z) + ?1. The wavelengths and amplitudes are evaluated in four actual cases when lee wave clouds have been observed. The agreement between the observed and computed distances between the piles of lee wave clouds is good. In these four cases comparison is also made with the simple method to compute the wavelength obtained by considering the oscillation of an air parcel in a stable atmosphere. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1961.tb00092.x

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