Analysis and modeling of infrasound from a four-stage rocket launch

Journal Article · Fri Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4953817· OSTI ID:1352362

Blom, Philip Stephen  ^[1]; Marcillo, Omar Eduardo  ^[1]; Arrowsmith, Stephen ^[2]

---

1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Infrasound from a four-stage sounding rocket was recorded by several arrays within 100 km of the launch pad. Propagation modeling methods have been applied to the known trajectory to predict infrasonic signals at the ground in order to identify what information might be obtained from such observations. There is good agreement between modeled and observed back azimuths, and predicted arrival times for motor ignition signals match those observed. The signal due to the high-altitude stage ignition is found to be low amplitude, despite predictions of weak attenuation. As a result, this lack of signal is possibly due to inefficient aeroacoustic coupling in the rarefied upper atmosphere.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1352362
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-15-24116
• Journal Information: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 139, Issue 6; ISSN 0001-4966
• Publisher: Acoustical Society of America
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS