Effects of atmospheric profiles on local infrasound propagation

A deep understanding of the impact of the natural environment on local (< 150 km) infrasound propagation is important, specifically for persistent infrastructure monitoring. Passively sensing the infrasound field provides useful information about the condition of infrastructure or any activity of interest in the infrasound passband. Meteorological profiles strongly influence the propagation of an infrasound signal via refraction; therefore, understanding the effects of different profiles is crucial for both determining the source of a signal and estimating how far away that signal may be readily detected. This paper focuses on simplified vertical temperature and wind profiles up to 20 km altitude and their effect on an infrasonic signal emanating from an arbitrary point source. A wide-angle, finite-element infrasound propagation model that correctly handles discontinuities in wavenumber is used for calculating transmission loss. A large number of simulations were performed to investigate the effect that meteorological profiles in different layers of the atmosphere have on surface transmission loss and to assess the impact of varying these profiles. Wind shear is found to be most impactful and it becomes clear that knowing the vertical wind profile is essential for determining the source of a received infrasonic signal. If wind shear is weak or non-existent, however, knowing the lapse rate in low altitudes to a high degree of accuracy is necessary. An in depth discussion and analysis of these results are presented as well as an overview of the infrasound propagation model and simplified meteorological profiles used in this study.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Atmospheric Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2018

Author dc:creator

• Lammers, Andrew R

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rauber, Robert M.

• infrasound propagation
• atmospheric profiles
• local infrasound

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2018 Andrew Lammers

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101618

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/101618