Kühlungsborn, 30.10.2026 – Gravity waves transport energy and momentum through the atmosphere, thereby influencing large-scale circulation. Their properties, variability and interactions with atmospheric currents were the focus of the doctoral thesis ‘Gravity Wave Spectra, Variability, and Interactions in the Middle Atmosphere Using Doppler Lidar Observations’.

Mohamed Mossad analysed simultaneous temperature and wind measurements from the Doppler-Rayleigh-Mie-Raman lidars at the ALOMAR Observatory in northern Norway and at the IAP in Kühlungsborn at altitudes between 30 and 70 kilometres. Based on seven years of ALOMAR measurements, the first multi-year study of the spectra of kinetic and potential gravity wave energy in the polar middle atmosphere was carried out. The results show clear seasonal variations and demonstrate that temperature measurements alone can underestimate the total energy of the waves.

A case study in Kühlungsborn also demonstrated how the strong vertical flow of the polar night jet filters gravity waves and how new waves can form at its edge. The research thus provides an important observational basis for further development of the representation of gravity waves in weather and climate models.

The PhD was supervised by Prof. Gerd Baumgarten, Head of the Optical and Rocket Soundings Department at the IAP.

We sincerely congratulate Mohamed Mossad on the successful completion of his PhD and wish him all the best for the future!