Weather Data Reveals Long-Predicted Pressure Waves | Quanta Magazine
An 18th-century physicist first predicted the existence of a chorus of atmospheric waves that swoop around Earth. Scientists have finally found them.
Hasnain says:
“Laplace wondered to what degree the moon gravitationally squeezes the air surrounding our planet, and he set out to analyze the types of waves that might emerge as a consequence. He imagined the atmosphere as a thin fluid on a smooth sphere, and he concluded that gravity should pin one class of waves to the ground, where they would move more or less horizontally — two-dimensional undulations that hug the planet’s surface. “He was really the first guy with this picture in his mind,” said Kevin Hamilton, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa and co-author of the new research. “It was an amazing insight.””
Posted on 2020-08-16T06:26:13+0000