Editing Gravity wave (section)

==Atmosphere dynamics on Earth==
{{further|Atmospheric wave}}
{{See also|Undular bore}}
In the [[Earth's atmosphere]], gravity waves are a mechanism that produce the transfer of [[momentum]] from the [[troposphere]] to the [[stratosphere]] and [[mesosphere]]. Gravity waves are generated in the troposphere by [[Weather front|frontal systems]] or by airflow over [[mountain]]s. At first, waves propagate through the atmosphere without appreciable change in [[arithmetic mean|mean]] [[velocity]]. But as the waves reach more rarefied (thin) air at higher [[altitude]]s, their [[amplitude]] increases, and [[nonlinearity|nonlinear effects]] cause the waves to break, transferring their momentum to the mean flow. This transfer of momentum is responsible for the forcing of the many large-scale dynamical features of the atmosphere. For example, this momentum transfer is partly responsible for the driving of the [[Quasi-biennial oscillation|Quasi-Biennial Oscillation]], and in the [[mesosphere]], it is thought to be the major driving force of the Semi-Annual Oscillation. Thus, this process plays a key role in the [[Dynamics (mechanics)|dynamics]] of the middle [[Atmosphere of Earth|atmosphere]].<ref>{{Citation
  | last1 = Fritts
  | first1 = D.C.
  | first2 = M.J.
  | last2 = Alexander
  | title = Gravity wave dynamics and effects in the middle atmosphere
  | journal = Reviews of Geophysics
  | volume = 41
  | issue = 1
  | page = 1003
 | year = 2003
  | doi = 10.1029/2001RG000106
  | postscript = .
| bibcode=2003RvGeo..41.1003F| citeseerx = 10.1.1.470.3839
  | s2cid = 122701606
 }}</ref>

The effect of gravity waves in clouds can look like [[altostratus undulatus cloud]]s, and are sometimes confused with them, but the formation mechanism is different.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Atmospheric gravity waves reaching [[ionosphere]] are responsible for the generation of traveling ionospheric disturbances and could be observed by [[radars]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Inferring neutral winds in the ionospheric transition region from atmospheric-gravity-wave traveling-ionospheric-disturbance (AGW-TID) observations with the EISCAT VHF radar and the Nordic Meteor Radar Cluster|journal=Annales Geophysicae|date=2023-10-18 |doi= 10.5194/angeo-41-409-2023|language=en|last1= Günzkofer|first1= F.|last2= Pokhotelov|first2= D.|last3= Stober|first3=G.|last4=Mann|first4=I.|last5=Vadas|first5=S.L.|last6=Becker|first6=E.|display-authors=etal|volume= 41|issue= 2|pages= 409–428|doi-access= free}}</ref>