The gravity wave instability induced by photochemistry in summer polar mesopause region

The effect of diabatic process due to the photochemical heating and cooling on the gravity wave propagation in middle atmosphere is studied. A linear gravity wave model which considers the diabatic process is established. The unstable region and the growth rate of the gravity wave caused by photochemistry are calculated. And the comparison between the model and the adiabatic gravity wave theory of pure dynamics is made. The results indicate that the photochemical heating process can induce the instability of gravity wave at mesopause. The intensity of the instability becomes stronger as the temperature decreases. The temperature feature and the altitude characteristics of the instability are consistent with the observation. Therefore, the instability of the gravity wave induced by photochemistry may be an important mechanism in polar mesopause region in summer.