Numerical simulation of mountain waves over the Southern Andes. Part I: Mountain wave and secondary wave character, evolutions, and breaking

The localized extent of the Andes terrain in latitude leads to "ship wave" responses above the individual peaks at earlier times, and a much larger ship-wave response at 100 km and above as the larger-scale MWs achieve large amplitudes. Other responses above regions of MW breaking include large-scale secondary gravity waves and acoustic waves that achieve very large amplitudes extending well into the thermosphere. MW breaking also causes momentum deposition that yields local decelerations initially, which merge and extend horizontally thereafter and persist throughout the event.

Companion papers examine the associated momentum fluxes, mean-flow evolution, gravity wavetidal interactions, and the MW instability dynamics and sources of secondary gravity waves and acoustic waves.