Gravity waves (GWs) play a role in exciting and enhancing typhoons,rainstorms and hail storms, and have myriad effects and major contributions to the circulation, structure, and variability of the atmospheric.The main advancements in tropospheric GWs researches in last 50 years are summarized,which include the sources, dynamical mechanisms, and observation of GWs. Results show that GWs are mainly excited by jet streams, followed by deep convection, mountain terrain, and water vapor. Normally,the strength of GWs is proportional to the vertical wind shear, absolute vorticity, buoyancy frequency, and the frequency of GWs. GWs propagation velocity is proportional to the amplitude and pulse width of GWs. GWs is strengthened in the stability atmosphere. Latent heating is favorable to the formation of GWs, and thermal heating is not. The means of GWs detection include micro pressure devices, satellites,radar, etc. The basic activity regularity of GWs has been founded out through detection in recent years.