Traveling ionospheric disturbances associated with nuclear detonations

Breitling, W. J.; Kupferman, R. A.; Gassmann, G. J.

doi:10.1029/jz072i001p00307

Cited by 25 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The energy release of the nuclear explosions mentioned in the above reference ranges from 1.4 to 50 Mt of TNT (see Table 4 of Breitling and Kupferman, 1967). This is much larger than the 500 kt of energy release during the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast (Borovička et al, 2013).…”

Section: Comparison Of Tids Excited By the Meteorite Blast With Tids mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A thermal waveguide in the troposphere was invoked to account for this global propagation. In the ionosphere, TIDs with estimated velocities ranging widely from 50 to 900 m s −1 were observed as perturbations in the critical frequency of the F2 layer (foF2; Breitling and Kupferman, 1967). Note that the observations might be biased by the sparse geographical distribution of the ionosondes and the long sampling time intervals.…”

Section: Comparison Of Tids Excited By the Meteorite Blast With Tids mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As the first and the second TIDs had absolute amplitudes of 0.35 and 0.6 TECU, their relative amplitudes were 2.7 and 2.2 %, respectively. Excitation of a secondary wave had been reported by Breitling and Kupferman (1967), who used globally distributed ionosondes to observe TIDs following nuclear detonations and found that the shock waves excited by the explosions might eventually degenerate into several waves that could be observed at large distances as TIDs. Using the GPS network, Calais and Minster (1996) analyzed the TIDs associated with a space shuttle ascent and concluded that the launch excited a shock wave, followed by secondary wave excited by the shock.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GPS network observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances following the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast

Ding

Mao

et al. 2016

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. We use the Global Positioning System (GPS) network in northwest China and central Asia to monitor traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), which were possibly excited by the large meteorite blast over Chelyabinsk, Russia, on 15 February 2013. Two TIDs were observed. The first TID was observed 13 min after the blast within a range of 270-600 km from the blast site. It propagated radially from the blast site with a mean velocity and period of 369 m s −1 and 12 min, respectively. The second TID was found in northwest China, 1.5 h after the time of the blast, at ∼ 2500-3100 km from the blast site. This latter TID propagated southeastward with a velocity and period of 410 m s −1 and 23 min, respectively. Severe dissipation of the perturbation total electronic content (TEC) amplitude was observed. Any TIDs propagating in a global range was not found after the meteorite blast. Features of TIDs were compared with those excited by early nuclear explosion tests. It is inferred from our analysis that the energy release of the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast may not be large enough to excite such ionospheric disturbances in a global range as some nuclear explosions did.

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Section: Comparison Of Tids Excited By the Meteorite Blast With Tids mentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Comparison Of Tids Excited By the Meteorite Blast With Tids mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GPS network observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances following the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast

Ding

Mao

et al. 2016

Ann. Geophys.

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“…Nuclear explosions are known to produce ionospheric disturbances through this mechanism [ Breitling et al , 1967; Blanc , 1984; Fitzgerald , 1994; Goldflam et al , 1984; Fitzgerald et al , 1993]. These disturbances are understood to be the ionospheric response to the radiated acoustic fields from the spall zone of the UGT [ Rudenko and Uralov , 1995; Krasnov and Drobzheva , 2005].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionospheric disturbances observed coincident with the 2006 and 2009 North Korean underground nuclear tests

Yang

Garrison

Lee

2012

Geophysical Research Letters

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Acoustic‐Gravity Waves (AGWs) in the neutral atmosphere can induce disturbances in the ionosphere that are subsequently observable in trans‐ionospheric Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements. Disruptive events on the Earth's surface, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and large explosions are one source of these disturbances. In this study, we apply wavelet analysis to enhance a cross‐correlation technique for detecting the presence of ionospheric disturbances in dual frequency GNSS time series collected from the GEONET (Japan) during the North Korean Underground Nuclear Tests (UGTs) conducted on 9 October 2006 and 25 May 2009. Through use of the wavelet coherence analysis, we are able to find significant wave trains in the Integrated Electron Content (IEC) data collected from the network. Low frequency disturbances, with periods between 3 and 12 min and horizontal propagation speeds between 75 and 453 m/s were found coincident with both the 2006 and 2009 events. High frequency disturbances, with periods between 2 and 5 min and horizontal speeds between 297 and 1322 m/s were found only after the 2009 event. The disturbances extracted from these signals showed propagation speeds, directions, and times of arrival coincident with the reported geographic location and times of the UGTs.

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“…The propagation of the perturbations was attributed to atmospheric waves, in particular acoustic gravity waves (AGWs) (Hines, ; Obayashi, ), with wave periods of several minutes. As we discuss below, AGWs couple to the ionosphere and generate traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) which were detected in association with the tests on Johnston Island and Novaya Zemlya (Breitling et al, ; Hines, ). A study of variations in the electron density peak in the F layer measured by ionosondes distributed around the world indicated propagation velocities between 50 and 900 m/s (Breitling et al, ), corresponding to a mix of shock and acoustic waves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Ionospheric Detection of Explosive Events

Huang

Helmboldt

Park

et al. 2019

Reviews of Geophysics

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The ionospheric response to explosions which occur at or below the Earth's surface has been noted since the first detonations of nuclear devices during the early period of aboveground testing. Acoustic gravity waves and traveling ionospheric disturbances were detected in association with test explosions carried out by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Novaya Zemlya in 1961. While research in this area has continued, the standards accepted by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty for detection and confirmation of nuclear explosions have been based on (1) seismic, (2) hydroacoustic, (3) infrasound, and (4) radionuclide monitoring from ground detectors. We suggest that ionospheric sensing offers a complementary methodology that may allow for robust confirmation of explosive events. One method of ionospheric monitoring of explosive events is analysis of total electron content (TEC), available by processing data from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers distributed globally on land masses. Traveling ionospheric disturbances observed by their signature in TEC have been used to detect and confirm mine collapses, mine blasts, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and meteorite strikes as well as underground nuclear tests. While an integrated measurement like TEC is not as sensitive to small-amplitude density perturbations as other methods, the existence of large networks of continuously operating GNSS stations makes this an intriguing new monitoring asset. We report on the current capabilities for detection of explosions via the ionosphere, the outstanding challenges, and prospects for future developments that have potential to augment the current standards for detection and confirmation of nuclear detonations. By leveraging the worldwide network of GNSS receivers, robust confirmation of impulsive events is possible. This methodology complements existing technologies approved by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The article outlines background theory, new approaches to monitoring of explosions, and challenges that remain to be addressed.

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Traveling ionospheric disturbances associated with nuclear detonations

Cited by 25 publications

References 22 publications

GPS network observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances following the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast

GPS network observation of traveling ionospheric disturbances following the Chelyabinsk meteorite blast

Ionospheric disturbances observed coincident with the 2006 and 2009 North Korean underground nuclear tests

Ionospheric Detection of Explosive Events

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