PROPAGATION OF PLANETARY-SCALE WAVES INTO THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE.

An equation governing the propagation of planetary-scale waves in the earth's atmosphere is derived by scaling a generalized form of Laplace's tidal equation. Quasi-analytic solutions to the propagation equation are obtained for certain model atmospheres in terms of approximate Hough functions and other special functions. Numerical solutions to the propagation equation are also obtained using January and July mean-zonal wind models for the northern hemisphere for the regions between 15 km and 100 km. The results show that the vertical structure of planetary scale waves is strongly dependent on the strength of the polar night jet in winter and upon the magnitude of the photochemical and radiative dissipation parameters in the stratosphere. It is also found that stationary planetary-scale waves may theoretically transport large amounts of heat from the equatorial mesosphere to the polar mesosphere in winter producing heating rates as large as 8K day** minus **1 poleward of 50 degree N under certain circumstances.