Evidence on the Presence of Thunderstorm - Generated Gravity Waves in the Stratosphere

This paper reports evidence on the presence of thunderstorm-generated gravity waves in the stratosphere, obtained during a balloon flight launched as part of a coordinated campaign conducted in Brazil on December 13, 1989 to -study a large storm system. The analysis of temperature, pressure and quasi-DC vertical electric field data seems to indicate that gravity waves were excited by the large convective cells which developed inside the storm, propagating then upward to the stratosphere. It is suggested that these waves can affect the electrical parameters of the stratosphere in such a way to change significantly the electric coupling between the troposphere and the higher layers of the atmosphere.