A B737-900 first officer reported encountering wake vortex on arrival to iah behind another B737.

Narrative:

Descending on the wolde arrival; approximately 10 to 11 miles in trail of another 737 (based on TCAS target estimate); we encountered the wake of the other aircraft. Significant roll of +/-10 degrees and brief light chop was experienced. The upset was enough to cause the flying pilot to implement our flight manual procedure for 'uncommanded roll' where the pilot disconnects the autopilot to manually regain aircraft control. Flight conditions at the time were day VMC with little or no wind and very smooth air. The smooth conditions made the wake encounter appear even more dramatic; prompting some comments from the flight attendants and one passenger after landing in iah. The wake was clearly not severe enough to endanger the aircraft however; had the flight attendants been working the cabin with unsecured beverage carts this wake would have the potential for flight attendant or passenger injury. After the event; both pilots commented that we were glad we were not following a larger aircraft.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-900 First Officer reported encountering wake vortex on arrival to IAH behind another B737.

Narrative: Descending on the WOLDE Arrival; approximately 10 to 11 miles in trail of another 737 (based on TCAS target estimate); we encountered the wake of the other aircraft. Significant roll of +/-10 degrees and brief light chop was experienced. The upset was enough to cause the flying pilot to implement our flight manual procedure for 'uncommanded roll' where the pilot disconnects the autopilot to manually regain aircraft control. Flight conditions at the time were day VMC with little or no wind and very smooth air. The smooth conditions made the wake encounter appear even more dramatic; prompting some comments from the flight attendants and one passenger after landing in IAH. The wake was clearly not severe enough to endanger the aircraft however; had the flight attendants been working the cabin with unsecured beverage carts this wake would have the potential for Flight Attendant or passenger injury. After the event; both pilots commented that we were glad we were not following a larger aircraft.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	962624
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	IAH.Airport
State Reference	TX
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-900
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	STAR WOLDE
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 2100
Events
Anomaly	Inflight Event / Encounter Wake Vortex Encounter