Gravity Wave, How? Video inside

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the concept of gravity waves as depicted in a video shared by a participant. Participants explore the nature of the waves observed in the video, questioning their relation to atmospheric phenomena and the terminology used to describe them.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests clarification on how gravity waves work as presented in the video.
  • Another participant questions the purpose of the video and its content.
  • Some participants note that the observed cloud movements may be atmospheric phenomena rather than gravity waves.
  • There is a distinction made between gravitational waves and gravity waves, with some arguing that the term "gravity waves" is often misused in popular media.
  • A participant critiques the video for being misleading, pointing out discrepancies in the depiction of time and movement, suggesting that it may not accurately represent atmospheric gravity waves.
  • One participant proposes that the term "topographic wave" may be more appropriate for the phenomena depicted in the video, citing the complex dynamics of Earth's atmosphere.
  • A later reply expresses gratitude for the educational insights shared by another participant.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the interpretation of the video and the terminology used, indicating that multiple competing views remain regarding the nature of the waves and their classification.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions regarding the definitions of gravity waves versus gravitational waves, and the appropriateness of the terminology used in the video. The discussion also highlights the complexity of atmospheric dynamics and the potential for misinterpretation of visual representations.

Raza
Messages
203
Reaction score
0
Earth sciences news on Phys.org
The clouds are moving in waves. Why?
 
Raza said:
The clouds are moving in waves. Why?

Why not? This is all atmospheric phenomena, does not have anything to do with gravity waves as the title suggests.
 
Integral said:
Why not? This is all atmospheric phenomena, does not have anything to do with gravity waves as the title suggests.

Thank you for clarifying that. but why does the clouds move in a wave?
 
Gravitational waves versus gravity waves

Integral said:
Why not? This is all atmospheric phenomena, does not have anything to do with gravity waves as the title suggests.

The popular press--- and unfortunately some physicists--- have taken to calling gravational waves (as in gtr and other gravitation theories) "gravity waves", despite the fact that this term has long been used in meteorology to mean a type of atmospheric wave. I haven't seen the video the OP is asking about, so I have no idea if this video in any sense illustrates a meteorological gravity wave.
 
Since I know this video, allow me to point out and correct couple of things:

First the video:
Its misleading (big time). Look at the middle of the screen and you will see a road where a very fast dots are moving (cars). That means its greatly accelerated. Then look at the way the sun moves. It looks as if rising then starts to set however another bright spot migrating across the scene as if it is another day. The time on the screen seem totally irrelevant and misleading. That scene is not taken in 15minutes normal speed. It looks it has been taken very fast over more than a day.

Second the atmospheric gravity wave business:
The Earth's dynamics is very vast and interesting field. There are numerous waves propagating in various speeds and directions all the time and they may interact non-linearly. The term gravity wave may be well misplaced and should be called topographic wave (since that's the cause of the wave). Needless to say, there are waves in atmosphere caused by gravity tides. There are many other which I will not mention. Let me post a good link concerning topographic waves (which this video to my knowledge portraits): (its actually a masters thesis but in HTML and can be just quickly browsed through looking at the pics to get the idea)
http://www.igf.fuw.edu.pl/zbyszek/magister/PracaMagisterskaPoprFinalKonrad.html#SECTION00020000000000000000
 
Thank you, sneez
That was very very educational.
 

Similar threads

Sailing drone video from inside cat 4 hurricane
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Terraforming the Pre-Earth? (Algol's video)
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
History The Ancient Lights of London
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
Picture of "Gravity waves" and Sprites on weather.com
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
Undergrad Gravity at Earth's poles vs equator
  • · Replies 12 ·
Replies
12
Views
4K
Graduate Leibniz Rule Videos on Digital-University
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
2K
Undergrad Does gravity bend gravitational waves?
  • · Replies 14 ·
Replies
14
Views
2K
Undergrad Check out this YouTube video on EM waves in free space
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
Undergrad Need opinions on Youtube video: "From constant moving charge to SR"
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
2K
Undergrad Marble spiralling inside a cylinder- New video
  • · Replies 4 ·
Replies
4
Views
2K