Dissipation of acoustic-gravity waves: an asymptotic approach

Acoustic-gravity waves in the middle and upper atmosphere and long-range propagation of infrasound are strongly affected by air viscosity and thermal conductivity. To characterize the wave dissipation, it is typical to consider idealized environments, which admit plane-wave solutions. Here, an asymptotic approach is developed that relies instead on the assumption that spatial variations of environmental parameters are gradual. It is found that realistic assumptions about the atmosphere lead to rather different predictions for wave damping than do the plane-wave solutions. A modification to the Sutherland-Bass model of infrasound absorption is proposed.