Infrasonic interferometry of stratospherically refracted microbaroms—A numerical study

Abstract

The atmospheric wind and temperature can be estimated through the traveltimes of infrasound between pairs of receivers. The traveltimes can be obtained by infrasonic interferometry. In this study, the theory of infrasonic interferometry is verified and applied to modeled stratospherically refracted waves. Synthetic barograms are generated using a raytracing model and taking into account atmospheric attenuation, geometrical spreading, and phase shifts due to caustics. Two types of source wavelets are implemented for the experiments: blast waves and microbaroms. In both numerical experiments, the traveltimes between the receivers are accurately retrieved by applying interferometry to the synthetic barograms. It is shown that microbaroms can be used in practice to obtain the traveltimes of infrasound through the stratosphere, which forms the basis for retrieving the wind and temperature profiles.

ECMWF SSW forecast evaluation using infrasound

“…The method presented here relies on an active source like the volcano used. However, source-independent techniques are being developed based on interferometry of the ambient noise field [Fricke et al, 2013[Fricke et al, , 2014.…”

Evanescent wave coupling in a geophysical system: Airborne acoustic signals from the Mw 8.1 Macquarie Ridge earthquake

“…Furthermore, the detection and localization of underwater explosions, as those monitored with, for example, the IMS, can be enhanced with the inclusion of the infrasonic component [ Prior et al , ]. The question of how underwater sources contribute to the ambient atmospheric noise field also arises, which in turn can be used for imaging of the (upper) atmosphere [ Haney , ; Fricke et al , ].…”

Infrasonic interferometry applied to microbaroms observed at the Large Aperture Infrasound Array in the Netherlands

“…In a study with direct tropospheric waves measured at two locations, Haney [2009] has shown that interferometry can be applied to infrasonic ambient noise to retrieve temperature and the strength of winds in the troposphere. In our recent paper [Fricke et al, 2013], we applied infrasonic interferometry to synthetically generated microbaroms, which were refracted by the stratosphere to gather insight and prove their feasibility for probing the stratosphere. In a recent approach, Godin et al [2014] were able to use traffic noise to estimate the wind vector in the troposphere, showing that the atmosphere can also be probed by ambient noise.…”

“…All Rights Reserved. In our recent paper [Fricke et al, 2013], we applied infrasonic interferometry to synthetically generated microbaroms, which were refracted by the stratosphere to gather insight and prove their feasibility for probing the stratosphere. In a recent approach, Godin et al [2014] were able to use traffic noise to estimate the wind vector in the troposphere, showing that the atmosphere can also be probed by ambient noise.…”