UC San Diego

Abstract Tsunami-generated linear acoustic–gravity waves in the atmosphere with altitude-dependent vertical stratification and horizontal background winds are studied with the long-term goal of real-time tsunami warning. The initial-value problem is examined using Fourier–Laplace transforms to investigate the time dependence and to compare the cases of anelastic and compressible atmospheres. The approach includes formulating the linear propagation of acoustic–gravity waves in the vertical, solving the vertical displacement of waves and pressure perturbations numerically as a set of coupled ODEs in the Fourier–Laplace domain, and employing den Iseger’s algorithm to carry out a fast and accurate numerical inverse Laplace transform. Results are presented for three cases with different atmospheric and tsunami profiles. Horizontal background winds enhance wave advection in the horizontal but hinder the vertical transmission of internal waves through the whole atmosphere. The effect of compressibility is significant. The rescaled vertical displacement of internal waves at 100-km altitude shows an arrival at the early stage of wave development due to the acoustic branch that is not present in the anelastic case. The long-term displacement also shows an O(1) difference between the compressible and anelastic results for the cases with uniform and realistic stratification. Compressibility hence affects both the speed and amplitude of energy transmitted to the upper atmosphere because of fast acoustic waves.