Acoustic Event Location and Background Noise Characterization on a Free Flying Infrasound Sensor Network in the Stratosphere
Abstract
We present that a variety of Earth surface and atmospheric sources generate low frequency sound waves that can travel great distances. Despite a rich history of ground-based sensor studies, very few experiments have investigated the prospects of free floating microphone arrays at high altitudes. However, recent initiatives have shown that such networks have very low background noise and may sample an acoustic wave field that is fundamentally different than that at Earth’s surface. The experiments have been limited to at most two stations at altitude, making acoustic event detection and localization difficult. We describe the deployment of four drifting microphone stations at altitudes between 21 and 24 km above sea level. The stations detected one of two regional ground-based chemical explosions as well as the ocean microbarom while traveling almost 500 km across the American Southwest. The explosion signal consisted of multiple arrivals; signal amplitudes did not correlate with sensor elevation or source range. The waveforms and propagation patterns suggest interactions with gravity waves in the 35-45 km altitude. A sparse network method that employed curved wave front corrections was able to determine the backazimuth from the free flying network to the acoustic source. Episodic signals similar to those seenmore »
- Authors:
-
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1426812
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2018-1692J
Journal ID: ISSN 0956-540X; 660703
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Journal International
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 213; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 0956-540X
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 58 GEOSCIENCES
Citation Formats
Bowman, Daniel C., and Albert, Sarah A.. Acoustic Event Location and Background Noise Characterization on a Free Flying Infrasound Sensor Network in the Stratosphere. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1093/gji/ggy069.
Bowman, Daniel C., & Albert, Sarah A.. Acoustic Event Location and Background Noise Characterization on a Free Flying Infrasound Sensor Network in the Stratosphere. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy069
Bowman, Daniel C., and Albert, Sarah A.. Thu .
"Acoustic Event Location and Background Noise Characterization on a Free Flying Infrasound Sensor Network in the Stratosphere". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy069. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1426812.
@article{osti_1426812,
title = {Acoustic Event Location and Background Noise Characterization on a Free Flying Infrasound Sensor Network in the Stratosphere},
author = {Bowman, Daniel C. and Albert, Sarah A.},
abstractNote = {We present that a variety of Earth surface and atmospheric sources generate low frequency sound waves that can travel great distances. Despite a rich history of ground-based sensor studies, very few experiments have investigated the prospects of free floating microphone arrays at high altitudes. However, recent initiatives have shown that such networks have very low background noise and may sample an acoustic wave field that is fundamentally different than that at Earth’s surface. The experiments have been limited to at most two stations at altitude, making acoustic event detection and localization difficult. We describe the deployment of four drifting microphone stations at altitudes between 21 and 24 km above sea level. The stations detected one of two regional ground-based chemical explosions as well as the ocean microbarom while traveling almost 500 km across the American Southwest. The explosion signal consisted of multiple arrivals; signal amplitudes did not correlate with sensor elevation or source range. The waveforms and propagation patterns suggest interactions with gravity waves in the 35-45 km altitude. A sparse network method that employed curved wave front corrections was able to determine the backazimuth from the free flying network to the acoustic source. Episodic signals similar to those seen on previous flights in the same region were noted, but their source remains unclear. Lastly, background noise levels were commensurate with those on infrasound stations in the International Monitoring System below 2 seconds.},
doi = {10.1093/gji/ggy069},
journal = {Geophysical Journal International},
number = 3,
volume = 213,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {2}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

Works referenced in this record:
Infrasound in the middle stratosphere measured with a free-flying acoustic array: STRATOSPHERIC INFRASOUND
journal, November 2015
- Bowman, Daniel C.; Lees, Jonathan M.
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 22
Airglow observations of orographic, volcanic and meteorological infrasound signatures
journal, November 2013
- Pilger, Christoph; Schmidt, Carsten; Streicher, Florian
- Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Vol. 104
Multiple-taper spectral analysis: A stand-alone C-subroutine
journal, March 1995
- Lees, Jonathan M.; Park, Jeffrey
- Computers & Geosciences, Vol. 21, Issue 2
The Gem Infrasound Logger and Custom‐Built Instrumentation
journal, November 2017
- Anderson, Jacob F.; Johnson, Jeffrey B.; Bowman, Daniel C.
- Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 89, Issue 1
A study of infrasonic anisotropy and multipathing in the atmosphere using seismic networks
journal, February 2013
- Hedlin, Michael A. H.; Walker, Kristoffer T.
- Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 371, Issue 1984
Modelling waveforms of infrasound arrivals from impulsive sources using weakly non-linear ray theory
journal, January 2015
- Lonzaga, Joel B.; Waxler, Roger M.; Assink, Jelle D.
- Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 200, Issue 3
An overview of volcano infrasound: From hawaiian to plinian, local to global
journal, January 2013
- Fee, David; Matoza, Robin S.
- Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, Vol. 249
Frequency response and design parameters for differential microbarometers
journal, July 2011
- Mentink, Johan H.; Evers, Läslo G.
- The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 130, Issue 1
Ambient infrasound noise
journal, January 2005
- Bowman, J. Roger
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 32, Issue 9
Capturing the Acoustic Radiation Pattern of Strombolian Eruptions using Infrasound Sensors Aboard a Tethered Aerostat, Yasur Volcano, Vanuatu
journal, October 2017
- Jolly, Arthur D.; Matoza, Robin S.; Fee, David
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 19
Oscillation of high-altitude balloons
journal, September 1991
- Anderson, William J.; Taback, Israel
- Journal of Aircraft, Vol. 28, Issue 9
The stratospheric arrival pair in infrasound propagation
journal, April 2015
- Waxler, Roger; Evers, Läslo G.; Assink, Jelle
- The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 137, Issue 4
Orographic disturbances in the upper atmosphere
journal, December 2012
- Semenov, Anatoly I.; Shefov, Nikolay N.; Medvedeva, Irina V.
- Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Vol. 90-91
Array analysis using circular-wave-front geometry:an application to locate the nearby seismo-volcanic source
journal, January 1999
- Almendros, J.; Ibanez, J. M.; Alguacil, G.
- Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 136, Issue 1
Sensitivity of the International Monitoring System infrasound network to elevated sources: a western Eurasia case study
journal, August 2017
- Nippress, Alexandra; Green, David N.
- Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 211, Issue 2
The IDC Seismic, Hydroacoustic and Infrasound Global Low and High Noise Models
journal, September 2012
- Brown, David; Ceranna, Lars; Prior, Mark
- Pure and Applied Geophysics, Vol. 171, Issue 3-5
Effect of interarray elevation differences on infrasound beamforming: Effect of elevation differences on beamforming
journal, April 2012
- Edwards, Wayne N.; Green, David N.
- Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 190, Issue 1
The acoustic signatures of ground acceleration, gas expansion, and spall fallback in experimental volcanic explosions
journal, March 2014
- Bowman, Daniel C.; Taddeucci, Jacopo; Kim, Keehoon
- Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 6
Infrasound Propagation in the "Zone of Silence"
journal, July 2010
- Negraru, P. T.; Golden, P.; Herrin, E. T.
- Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 81, Issue 4
Heating of Jupiter’s thermosphere by the dissipation of upward propagating acoustic waves
journal, June 2003
- Schubert, Gerald; Hickey, Michael P.; Walterscheid, Richard L.
- Icarus, Vol. 163, Issue 2
A Comparison of the Ocean Microbarom Recorded on the Ground and in the Stratosphere: MICROBAROM IN THE STRATOSPHERE
journal, September 2017
- Bowman, D. C.; Lees, J. M.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 18
ggmap: Spatial Visualization with ggplot2
journal, January 2013
- Kahle, David; Wickham, Hadley
- The R Journal, Vol. 5, Issue 1
The interaction between infrasonic waves and gravity wave perturbations: Application to observations using UTTR Rocket Motor Fuel Elimination Events: INFRASOUND AND GRAVITY WAVES INTERACTION
journal, May 2016
- Lalande, Jean-Marie; Waxler, Roger
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 121, Issue 10
On infrasound generated by wind farms and its propagation in low‐altitude tropospheric waveguides
journal, October 2015
- Marcillo, Omar; Arrowsmith, Stephen; Blom, Philip
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 120, Issue 19
Gravity wave spectra in the lower stratosphere diagnosed from project loon balloon trajectories: Gravity Wave Spectra from Balloons
journal, August 2017
- Schoeberl, M. R.; Jensen, E.; Podglajen, A.
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 16
Works referencing / citing this record:
Tracking scattered signals in the acoustic coda using independent component analysis in a topographically complex setting
journal, November 2018
- Albert, S. A.; Bowman, D. C.
- Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 216, Issue 2
Figures / Tables found in this record: