Attenuation of internal gravity waves in model atmospheres

The propagation of internal acoustic-gravity is known to be associated with the transport of kinetic energy, elastic energy and thermobaric energy. In a lossy atmosphere these energies are converted into heat through dissipative processes of viscosity, thermal conduction and ion drag. As a result, these waves are damped. Depending on wave parameters the atmosphere may appear opaque or transparent or in-between. Computations made for several model atmospheres indicate minimum damping when the period is between the buoyancy period and the period of about 60 min. The results show that, for most waves except those propagating nearly horizontally, the thermal conduction is slightly more important in damping waves than the viscosity