Gravity waves on the axis of low level jet and their instability

Using the wind data at mountain stations, gravity waves on the axis of low level jet and their relation to rain clusters have been studied by means of the spectrum method. It is found that the spectrum densities of both wind and rainfall reach their maximums at the period of 8 h and the module between wind and rainfall also reach the maximum in that range. Both observation and theoretical study give the same con-clusion that the unstable development of gravity waves depends not only on the atmospheric stratification but also on the vertical shear of the environmental wind. The appearance of the jet-shape vertical profile of wind is favourable for the unstable development of gravity waves. The lower the height of the axis, the larger the growth rate of amplitude.