Search

We present the results of infrasonic interferometry applied to microbaroms, obtained from ambient noise. For this purpose the “Large Aperture Infrasound Array” (LAIA) was used, which has been installed in the Netherlands. Preprocessing appeared to be an essential step in enhancing the microbarom signals from ambient noise that strongly influences the results of the interferometry. Both the state of the atmosphere and the noise characteristics are taken into account to assess the strength of the cross correlation. The delay time of the microbaroms between two stations is determined through cross correlating the recordings. By calculating the cross correlations between all 55 station pairs of LAIA, we are able to find the delay time of microbaroms up to a interstation distance of 40.6 km. Using the strength of the cross correlations, we are able to show that the coherence of the microbaroms along the direction of arrival is higher than orthogonal to it. A comparison of the atmospheric state, with a cross correlation, over a period of 10 days, reveals that the infrasound propagation over the array is correlated with the tropospheric temperature and wind. Based on the cross correlations between the three closest stations, we are able to passively estimate the effective sound speed and the wind speed as a function of time.

Microbaroms are a continuous infrasonic signal in the 0.15 to 0.3 Hz band caused by the collision of oceanic surface waves of equal period. Such signals are often generated by large maritime storms. Current formulation of the generation mechanism predicts that the microbarom source location due to a large maritime storm in the open ocean is generally located several hundreds of kilometers from the eye of the storm. Assuming such a source location to be correct, propagation of the microbaroms along paths which pass near the storm center as well as those which propagate away from the storm structure have been examined using geometric acoustics. Microbarom propagation paths which pass near the storm center are refracted by the storm winds and are found to have back azimuths directed toward a virtual source around the storm center. Microbarom propagation paths which do not pass near the storm center are found to have back azimuths directed toward the actual source region. To validate these predictions, data from microbarom signals generated by hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean have been collected along the east coast of the United States during the 2010 and 2011 Atlantic hurricane seasons. Data from several storm events are presented here for comparison with model predictions. In general, the observations are in agreement with the predictions of the propagation model.

A method is presented to study the life cycle of a SSW using infrasonic ambient noise observations. The potential of infrasound is shown to provide the missing observations required by numerical weather prediction to better resolve the upper atmosphere. The 2009 major SSW is reanalyzed using the Evers and Siegmund (2009) data set. Microbarom observations are evaluated to identify detections that cannot be explained by the analysis of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. Identified differences can be related to either the altitude limit of the analysis, not resolving thermospheric ducts, or to an actual error in the analysis. Therefore, a first-order model is used to relate observations with the analysis, existing of the Waxler et al. (2007) microbarom source model, including bathymetry to allow column resonances, and an atmospheric propagation model using 3-D ray tracing. Daily normalized spectral powers are proposed to distinguish stratospheric from thermospheric return height, based on the different signature of solar tidal amplitude fluctuations. It is shown that a SSW is not a smooth event as following from the analysis but a series of abrupt changes with a period of 10 to 16 days, increasing in intensity and duration. This is in agreement with the wave period of Rossby waves, interacting with the stratospheric circumpolar vortex. The type of vortex disturbance, split or reversal, can be deduced from the combined effect of the change in back-azimuth direction, solar tidal signature type, and/or phase variation of the amplitude variation of the observed microbaroms.

[1] Multiyear continuous infrasound monitoring with the global International Monitoring System (IMS) demonstrates that microbaroms, generated by nonlinear interaction of opposing oceanic surface waves, are globally observed at equatorial, middle, and high latitudes. Direction of arrival of microbarom signals are systematically estimated at all IMS infrasound stations. Using a cross-bearing method, we perform a monthly localization of worldwide microbarom sources. At most stations, microbarom detections show clear seasonal trends, driven by stratospheric wind reversals and source effects. Five-year averaging of the detections provides global and statistical observations of seasonal source variations. Our microbarom source locations represent a first attempt to infer ocean swell characteristics from global and long-term measurements. We show that the monthly averaged source locations exhibit clear seasonal switching between the northern and southern hemispheres. Such an approach can help with evaluating the network detection capability, and provides new insights into quantitative relationships between infrasonic observables, atmospheric specifications, and ocean–atmosphere interactions.

[i] Atmospheric sound waves in the 0.02-10 Hz region, also known as infrasound, exhibit long-range global propagation characteristics. Measurable infrasound is produced around the globe on a daily basis by a variety of natural and man-made sources. As a result of weak classical attenuation (∼0.01 dB km -1 at 0.1 hz), these acoustic signals can propagate thousands of kilometers in tropospheric, stratospheric, and lower thermospheric ducts. To model this propagation accurately, detailed knowledge of the background atmospheric state variables, the global winds and temperature fields from the ground to ∼170 km, is required. For infrasound propagation calculations, we have developed a unique atmospheric specification system (G2S) that is capable of providing this information. Using acoustic ray tracing methods and detailed G2S atmospheric specifications, we investigate the major aspects of the spatiotemporal variability of infrasound propagation characteristics.