Science Update: Review: Gravity waves from atmospheric jets and fronts

A new article by R. Plougonven and F. Zhang in Reviews of Geophysics presents current knowledge and understanding on gravity waves near jets and fronts. It has been known for several decades that jets and fronts are significant sources of internal gravity waves in the atmosphere, which contribute to local mixing and impact tropospheric convection, amongst other things. The mechanisms responsible for the emission of these waves remains uncertain, in part because of the complexity of the environment in which they appear. This paper presents a review of gravity waves near jets and fronts from observations, theory, and modelling, and also discusses challenges for progress in the coming years. The full abstract can be found here.