“This finally resolves a longstanding and classic issue in atmospheric science, but it also opens a new avenue of research to understand both the processes that excite the waves and the processes that act to damp the waves,†co-author Kevin Hamilton, a professor at the International Pacific Research Center at the University of Hawaii, said in a statement.
The atmospheric resonances were first proposed at the beginning of the 19th century by French physicist Pierre-Simon Laplace, whose dynamic theory of ocean tides has since allowed scientists to predict deformations in a planet’s atmosphere.
The tones, according to Hamilton and his collaborators, are created by massive pressure waves that travel around the globe.