Storms cause ripples in the wind that travel upwards and away from the clouds, much like a stone causes ripples when it is thrown in a pond. These can then affect the temperature and winds around the storms and make them grow, last longer, or die earlier.
Observational studies over Darwin, Australia, show gravity waves provide a plausible explanation for the patterns of noteworthy variability in mesoscale motions. The findings suggest a two‐way coupling of clouds to their environment
This research uses commercial aircraft data and high-resolution simulations to study a case in 2005 over the United States where severe turbulence was encountered about 50km away from a large mesoscale convective system. Of relevance, current aviation turbulence avoidance guidelines recommend avoiding storms by 32 km (20 miles).
Thus study used satellite scatterometry to measure the horizontal component of winds over the sea surface in the Maritime Continent. It combined data with scatterometer to give additional insights into gravity wave structure in this region.