Effects of Atmospheric Profiles on Short Range Infrasound Propagation
Abstract
A deep understanding of the impact of the natural environment on short range (less than 150 km) infrasound propagation is important to the military, specifically for safe and efficient route planning. Passively sensing the infrasound field provides useful information about the condition of infrastructure or any activity of interest along the selected route. Meteorological profiles strongly influence the propagation of an infrasound signal; 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 profiles up to 20 km altitude and their effect on an infrasonic signal emanating from an arbitrary point source. A wide-angle, finite-element PE 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 temperature profiles in different layers of the atmosphere have on surface transmission loss and to assess the sensitivity of varying these profiles. A discussion of the results of these simulations are presented as well as an overview of the PE model and temperature profiles used in this study.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 02, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1068847
Entities
People
- Andrew R. Lammers
- Michelle E. Swearingen