Publications

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Subterranean energy releases such as explosions and earthquakes may disturb the Earth-atmosphere interface, creating acoustic waves that can travel great distances. These waves provide a record of the ground motion directly above the event. The information they encode may provide critical insight into the depth and size of underground explosions, the sequence of events immediately before volcanic eruptions, and the magnitude of strong motion resulting from earthquakes. However, the effect of event size and burial depth on the resulting acoustic wave has not been explored in detail. Here, the relationship between acoustic amplitude, frequency, and energy is investigated for a series of well-characterized underground chemical explosions in granite. Acoustic amplitude was found to vary linearly with explosive yield divided by emplacement depth. Peak acoustic frequency appears to be a function of explosive yield alone. The ratio of radiated acoustic energy to source energy had a relatively poor fit to yield, depth, and combinations thereof. These relationships suggest that acoustic analysis can be used to determine the size and depth of a buried explosion. The results presented here have particular relevance to the nuclear monitoring community, because depth is difficult to determine with seismic methods.

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Despite the increasing number of small scientific balloon missions with payloads in the gram-to- kilogram mass range, little is known about the injury risk they pose to humans on the ground. We investigated the risk of head injury using the head injury criterion (HIC) from impact with a 1.54 kg (3.40 pound) payload. Study parameters were impact speeds of 670, 1341, and 2012 cm s -1 (15, 30, and 45 mph) and protective padding wall thicknesses between zero and 10 cm (3.9 inch). Padding provided meaningful reductions of injury risk outcomes at all speeds. The maximum risk of AIS 3+ injury was approximately 3.6% (HIC 249) for the 670 cm s -1 (15 mph) case with 0.5 cm (0.2 inch) of padding, 34% (HIC 801) for the 1341 cm s -1 (30 mph) case with 3.0 cm (1.2 inch) of padding, and 67% (HIC 1147) for the 2012 cm s -1 (45 mph) case with 7.0 cm (2.8 inch) of padding. Adding 1.0 cm (0.39 inch) of padding to these two latter cases reduced AIS 3+ injury risk to approximately 13% (HIC 498) and 37% (HIC 835), respectively. Public safety can be increased when balloon operators use padded payload enclosures as adjuncts to parachutes. KFY TERMS: head injury criterion (HIC), expanded polystyrene padding, injury risk, balloons ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Sandia National Laboratories, Environment Safety & Health Planning, and John E. Myers, Safety Basis Engineer. We acknowledge Douglas Dederman for his participation in the R&A process.

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Acoustic waves with a wide range of frequencies are generated by lightning strokes during thunderstorms, including infrasonic waves (0.1 to 20 Hz). The source mechanism for these low-frequency acoustic waves is still debated, and studies have so far been limited to ground-based instruments. Here we report the first confirmed detection of lightning-generated infrasound with acoustic instruments suspended at stratospheric altitudes using a free-flying balloon. We observe high-amplitude signals generated by lightning strokes located within 100 km of the balloon as it flew over the Tasman Sea on 17 May 2016. The signals share many characteristics with waveforms recorded previously by ground-based instruments near thunderstorms. The ability to measure lightning activity with high-altitude infrasound instruments has demonstrated the potential for using these platforms to image the full acoustic wavefield in the atmosphere. Furthermore, it validates the use of these platforms for recording and characterizing infrasonic sources located beyond the detection range of ground-based instruments.

Balloon-borne infrasound research began again in 2014 with a small payload launched as part of the High Altitude Student Platform (HASP; Bowman and Lees(2015)). A larger payload was deployed through the same program in 2015. These proof of concept experiments demonstrated that balloon-borne microbarometers can capture the ocean microbarom (a pervasive infrasound signal generated by ocean waves) even when nearby ground sensors are not able to resolve them (Bowman and Lees, 2017). The following year saw infrasound sensors as secondary payloads on the 2016 Ultra Long Duration Balloon flight from Wanaka, New Zealand (Bowman and Lees, 2018; Lamb et al., 2018) and the WASP 2016 balloon flight from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico (Young et al., 2018). Another payload was included on the HASP 2016 flight as well. In 2017, the Heliotrope project included a four element microbarometer network drifting at altitudes of 20-24 km on solar hot air balloons (Bowman and Albert, 2018). At the time of this writing the Trans-Atlantic Infrasound Payload (TAIP, operated by Sandia National Laboratories) and the Payload for Infrasound Measurement in the Arctic (PIMA, operated by Jet Propulsion Laboratory) are preparing to fly from Sweden to Canada aboard the PMC-Turbo balloon. The purpose of this experiment is to cross-calibrate several different infrasound sensing systems and test whether wind noise events occur in the stratosphere.

Recent work in deploying infrasound (low-frequency sound) sensors on aerostats and free-flying balloons has shown them to be viable alternatives to ground stations. However, no study to date has compared the performance of surface and freefloating infrasound microbarometers with respect to acoustic events at regional (100s of kilometers) range. The prospect of enhanced detection of aerial explosions at similar ranges, such as those from bolides, has not been investigated either. We examined infrasound signals from three 1-ton trinitrotoluene (TNT) equivalent chemical explosions using microbarometers on two separate balloons at 280- to 400-km ranges and ground stations at 6.3- to 350-km ranges. Signal celerities were consistent with acoustic waves traveling in the stratospheric duct. However, significant differences were noted between the observed arrival patterns and those predicted by an acoustic propagation model. Very low-background noise levels on the balloons were consistent with previous studies that suggest wind interference is minimal on freely drifting sensors. Simulated propagation patterns and observed noise levels also confirm that balloon-borne microbarometers should be very effective at detecting explosions in the middle and upper atmosphere as well as those on the surface.

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The first solar hot air balloon was constructed in the early 1970s (Besset, 2016). Over the following decades the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) developed the Montgolfiere Infrarouge (MIR) balloon, which flew on solar power during the day and infrared radiation from the Earth's surface at night (Fommerau and Rougeron, 2011). The balloons were capable of flying for over 60 days and apparently reached altitudes of 30 km at least once (Malaterre, 1993). Solar balloons were the subject of a Jet Propulsion Laboratory study that performed test flights on Earth (Jones and Wu 1999) and discussed their mission potential for Mars, Jupiter, and Venus (Jones and Heun, 1997). The solar balloons were deployed from the ground and dropped from hot air balloons; some were altitude controlled by means of a remotely-commanded air valve at the top of the envelope. More recently, solar balloons have been employed for infrasound studies in the lower stratosphere (see Table 1). The program began in 2015, when a prototype balloon reached an altitude of 22 kilometers before terminating just prior to float (Bowman et al., 2015). An infrasound sensor was successfully deployed on a solar balloon during the 2016 SISE/USIE experiment, in which an acoustic signal from a ground explosion was captured at a range of 330 km (Anderson et al. 2018; Young et al. 2018). This led to the launch of a 5-balloon infrasound network during the Heliotrope experiment (Bowman and Albert, 2018). The balloons were constructed by the researchers themselves at a materials of less than $50 per envelope.

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 travelling 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 at 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. Background noise levels were commensurate with those on infrasound stations in the International Monitoring System below 2 s.

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Colliding sea surface waves generate the ocean microbarom, an acoustic signal that may transmit significant energy to the upper atmosphere. Previous estimates of acoustic energy flux from the ocean microbarom and mountain-wind interactions are on the order of 0.01 to 1 mW/m2, heating the thermosphere by tens of Kelvins per day. We captured upgoing ocean microbarom waves with a balloon-borne infrasound microphone; the maximum acoustic energy flux was approximately 0.05 mW/m2. This is about half the average value reported in previous ground-based microbarom observations spanning 8 years. The acoustic flux from the microbarom episode described here may have heated the thermosphere by several Kelvins per day while the source persisted. We suggest that ocean wave models could be used to parameterize acoustically generated heating of the upper atmosphere based on sea state.

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We conducted an experiment in Pahrump, Nevada, in June 2017, where artificial seismic signals were created using a seismic hammer, and the possibility of detecting them from their acoustic signature was examined. In this work, we analyze the pressure signals recorded by highly sensitive barometers deployed on the ground and on tethers suspended from balloons. Our signal processing results show that wind noise experienced by a barometer on a free-flying balloon is lower compared to one on a moored balloon. This has never been experimentally demonstrated in the lower troposphere. While seismoacoustic signals were not recorded on the hot air balloon platform owing to operational challenges, we demonstrate the detection of seismoacoustic signals on our moored balloon platform. Our results have important implications for performing seismology in harsh surface environments such as Venus through atmospheric remote sensing.

The flight and unscheduled termination of a prototype solar powered hot air balloon are described. Impact speeds of the falling payload are estimated, and the cause of the unexpected release is discussed. Modifications to the flight system to reduce the chances of this failure mode are presented.

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The Carolina Infrasound package, added as a piggyback to the 2016 ULDB ight, recorded unique acoustic signals such as the ocean microbarom and a large meteor. These data both yielded unique insights into the acoustic energy transfer from the lower to the upper atmosphere as well as highlighted the vast array of signals whose origins remain unknown. Now, the opportunity to y a payload across the north Atlantic offers an opportunity to sample one of the most active ocean microbarom sources on Earth. Improvements in payload capabilities should result in characterization of the higher frequency range of the stratospheric infrasound spectrum as well. Finally, numerous large mining and munitions disposal explosions in the region may provide \ground truth" events for assessing the detection capability of infrasound microphones in the stratosphere. The flight will include three different types of infrasound sensors. One type is a pair of polarity reversed InfraBSU microphones (standard for high altitude flights since 2016), another is a highly sensitive Chaparral 60 modified for a very low corner period, and the final sensor is a lightweight, low power Gem infrasound package. By evaluating these configurations against each other on the same flight, we will be able to optimize future campaigns with different sensitivity and mass constraints.

We have designed, built, and recorded data with a custom infrasound logger (referred to as the Gem) that is inexpensive, portable, and easy to use. We describe its design process, qualities, and applications in this article. Field instrumentation is a key element of geophysical data collection, and the quantity and quality of data that can be recorded is determined largely by the characteristics of the instruments used. Geophysicists tend to rely on commercially available instruments, which suffice for many important types of fieldwork. However, commercial instrumentation can fall short in certain roles, which motivates the development of custom sensors and data loggers. In particular, we found existing data loggers to be expensive and inconvenient for infrasound campaigns, and developed the Gem infrasound logger in response. In this article, we discuss development of this infrasound logger and the various uses found for it, including projects on volcanoes, high-Altitude balloons, and rivers. Further, we demonstrate that when needed, scientists can feasibly design and build their own specialized instruments, and that doing so can enable them to record more and better data at a lower cost.

This report assesses seismic interference generated by a tethered aerostat. The study was motivated by a planned aerostat deployment within the footprint of the Dry Alluvium Geology seismic network. No evidence was found for seismic interference generated by the aerostat, and thus the e ects on the Dry Alluvium Geology sensors will be negligible.

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