Infrasound propagation in tropospheric ducts and acoustic shadow zones.

Numerical computations of the Navier-Stokes equations governing acoustic propagation are performed to investigate infrasound propagation in the troposphere and into acoustic shadow zones. An existing nonlinear finite-difference, time-domain (FDTD) solver that constrains input sound speed models to be axisymmetric is expanded to allow for advection and rigid, stair-step topography. The FDTD solver permits realistic computations along a given azimuth.

Long-range propagation of nonlinear infrasound waves through an absorbing atmosphere.

The Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a finite-difference, time-domain (FDTD) approach for axi-symmetric environmental models, allowing three-dimensional acoustic propagation to be simulated using a two-dimensional Cylindrical coordinate system. A method to stabilize the FDTD algorithm in a viscous medium at atmospheric densities characteristic of the lower thermosphere is described. The stabilization scheme slightly alters the governing equations but results in quantifiable dispersion characteristics.

A 500-kiloton airburst over Chelyabinsk and an enhanced hazard from small impactors.

Most large (over a kilometre in diameter) near-Earth asteroids are now known, but recognition that airbursts (or fireballs resulting from nuclear-weapon-sized detonations of meteoroids in the atmosphere) have the potential to do greater damage than previously thought has shifted an increasing portion of the residual impact risk (the risk of impact from an unknown object) to smaller objects. Above the threshold size of impactor at which the atmosphere absorbs sufficient energy to prevent a ground impact, most of the damage is thought to be caused by the airburst shock wave, but owing to lack of observations this is uncertain. Here we report an analysis of the damage from the airburst of an asteroid about 19 metres (17 to 20 metres) in diameter southeast of Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February 2013, estimated to have an energy equivalent of approximately 500 (±100) kilotons of trinitrotoluene (TNT, where 1 kiloton of TNT = 4.

Nonlinear synthesis of infrasound propagation through an inhomogeneous, absorbing atmosphere.

An accurate and efficient method to predict infrasound amplitudes from large explosions in the atmosphere is required for diverse source types, including bolides, volcanic eruptions, and nuclear and chemical explosions. A finite-difference, time-domain approach is developed to solve a set of nonlinear fluid dynamic equations for total pressure, temperature, and density fields rather than acoustic perturbations. Three key features for the purpose of synthesizing nonlinear infrasound propagation in realistic media are that it includes gravitational terms, it allows for acoustic absorption, including molecular vibration losses at frequencies well below the molecular vibration frequencies, and the environmental models are constrained to have axial symmetry, allowing a three-dimensional simulation to be reduced to two dimensions.

Evaluation of infrasound signals from the shuttle Atlantis using a large seismic network.

Inclement weather in Florida forced the space shuttle "Atlantis" to land at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California on June 22, 2007, passing near three infrasound stations and several hundred seismic stations in northern Mexico, southern California, and Nevada. The high signal-to-noise ratio, broad receiver coverage, and Atlantis' positional information allow for the testing of infrasound propagation modeling capabilities through the atmosphere to regional distances. Shadow zones and arrival times are predicted by tracing rays that are launched at right angles to the conical shock front surrounding the shuttle through a standard climatological model as well as a global ground to space model.

Finite-difference time-domain synthesis of infrasound propagation through an absorbing atmosphere.

Equations applicable to finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) computation of infrasound propagation through an absorbing atmosphere are derived and examined in this paper. It is shown that over altitudes up to 160 km, and at frequencies relevant to global infrasound propagation, i.e.

Excitation of T-phases by seafloor scattering.

T-phases excited by suboceanic earthquakes are classified into two types: abyssal phases which are excited near the earthquake epicenter at seafloor depths far below the SOFAR velocity channel, and slope T-phases which are excited at continental, or ocean island slopes and ridges at distances up to several hundreds of kilometers from the epicenter. In this article, it is demonstrated that approximate time-frequency characteristics of both classes of T-phase can be synthesized under the assumption that T-phases are excited by scattering from a rough seafloor. Seafloor scattering at shallow depths preferentially excites low order acoustic modes that propagate efficiently within the ocean sound channel minimum.

Mantle discontinuity structure beneath the southern east pacific rise from P-to-S converted phases.

Receiver functions derived from teleseismic body waves recorded by ocean-bottom seismometers on the southern East Pacific Rise reveal shear waves converted from compressional waves at the mantle discontinuities near 410- and 660-kilometer depth. The thickness of the mantle transition zone between the two discontinuities is normal relative to the global average and indicates that upwelling beneath the southern East Pacific Rise is not associated with an excess temperature in the mantle transition zone.