Vertically Propagating Mountain Waves—A Hazard for High-Flying Aircraft?

In this case study, vertically propagating mountain waves are investigated as a potential aviation hazard. An incident from January 2016 is investigated that occurred above the Apennines in Italy and involved mountain waves carrying large vertical energy fluxes of 8 W m⁻² that propagated without significant dissipation from the troposphere to the stratosphere. During the incident, the pilots of the High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) had expected calm stratospheric flying conditions but encountered a series of stall warnings at flight level 410 (12.5 km). The article discusses what causes stall events, the methods and models applied to the data from HALO, an analysis of the meteorological situation at the time of the incident, and the results of a numerical simulation to assess the magnitude of mountain wave-induced perturbations. It is determined that mountain wave-induced variations of ambient along-track wind and temperature caused the aircraft speed to decrease toward the minimum needed stall speed.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1175/jamc-d-17-0340.1
• Record URL:
  • https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/JAMC-D-17-0340.1
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/15588424
• Authors:
  • Bramberger, Martina
  • Dörnbrack, Andreas
  • Wilms, Henrike
  • Gemsa, Steffen
  • Raynor, Kevin
  • Sharman, Robert
• Publication Date: 2018-9

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1957-1975
• Serial:
  • Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology
  • Volume: 57
  • Issue Number: 9
  • Publisher: American Meteorological Society
  • ISSN: 1558-8424
  • EISSN: 1558-8432
  • Serial URL: https://journals.ametsoc.org/toc/apme/current

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aircraft; Atmospheric layers; Aviation safety; Case studies; Mountains; Simulation; Stall; Wave motion; Wind
• Geographic Terms: Italy
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01716104
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 13 2019 9:44AM