Listening to the Atmosphere: Using Infrasound Observations to Infer Atmospheric Conditions.
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| Title: | Listening to the Atmosphere: Using Infrasound Observations to Infer Atmospheric Conditions. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Amezcua, Javier1 (AUTHOR) j.amezcua@reading.ac.uk, Averbuch, Gil2 (AUTHOR), Näsholm, Sven Peter3,4 (AUTHOR), Arrowsmith, Stephen5 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres. 3/16/2026, Vol. 131 Issue 5, p1-23. 23p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Mesosphere, *Weather forecasting, *Weather, *Stratosphere, Infrasonic waves, Data assimilation, Inverse problems, Sensor arrays |
| Geographic Terms: | Oklahoma |
| Abstract: | The stratosphere and mesosphere are important regions for the prediction of weather at the Earth's surface for medium‐ and long‐range forecasts. The availability of observations in these layers is lower than that of the troposphere, especially for the dynamics. While seeking new observational sources is important, there are existing infrasound data sets that provide indirect observations of these layers to be exploited. Infrasound waves generated at the Earth's surface travel horizontally and vertically through the atmosphere, and can be detected by sensor arrays at ranges of hundreds or thousands of kilometers. These waves are affected by the atmospheric conditions they encounter during propagation, and the integrated contributions can be observed in the recorded observations. Inverse problem techniques can be readily used to extract information from these integrated observations and provide valuable data related to the atmospheric conditions. We exploit observations from controlled ammunition explosions in Oklahoma, which generate waves traveling to 30–50 km altitude before being refracted back to the surface and detected 256 km from the explosion site. As model background we use the 10‐member European Reanalysis product, valid 1 hr before the explosions. We use the Modulated Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter to combine these two sources of information and obtain updated atmospheric profiles. The assimilated observations bring the atmospheric profiles closer to those obtained by solely interpolating the reanalysis product to the time of the explosions. The most benefited altitudes are those close to the refraction heights of the infrasound waves, 35–55 km. Plain Language Summary: Observations of stratospheric and mesospheric variables are rare, particularly of winds. There are, however, indirect and underutilized observations which can help constrain variables in these levels. Detonations at the Earth's surface generate infrasound waves which travel horizontally and vertically through the atmosphere. As they travel, they are affected by winds and temperature. The integrated effect is contained in observations taken when these waves are detected at specialized sensor stations. In this work, we use data assimilation techniques to extract information of the atmospheric variables from integrated observations. We take advantage of a unique data set of infrasound recorded from a set of controlled explosions in Oklahoma. Key Points: There are sensor arrays around the world constantly measuring infrasound waves, providing unique long‐term data sets of opportunityWe use indirect observations to update middle atmospheric variables (temperature and winds) which are otherwise sparsely observedThis is the first work performing data assimilation with a full ray‐tracing routine as observation operator and applied to recorded data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | GreenFILE |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: 8gh DbLabel: GreenFILE An: 192266662 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Listening to the Atmosphere: Using Infrasound Observations to Infer Atmospheric Conditions. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amezcua%2C+Javier%22">Amezcua, Javier</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> j.amezcua@reading.ac.uk</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Averbuch%2C+Gil%22">Averbuch, Gil</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Näsholm%2C+Sven+Peter%22">Näsholm, Sven Peter</searchLink><relatesTo>3,4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Arrowsmith%2C+Stephen%22">Arrowsmith, Stephen</searchLink><relatesTo>5</relatesTo> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Geophysical+Research%2E+Atmospheres%22">Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres</searchLink>. 3/16/2026, Vol. 131 Issue 5, p1-23. 23p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mesosphere%22">Mesosphere</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Weather+forecasting%22">Weather forecasting</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Weather%22">Weather</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Stratosphere%22">Stratosphere</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Infrasonic+waves%22">Infrasonic waves</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Data+assimilation%22">Data assimilation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Inverse+problems%22">Inverse problems</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Sensor+arrays%22">Sensor arrays</searchLink> – Name: SubjectGeographic Label: Geographic Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Oklahoma%22">Oklahoma</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: The stratosphere and mesosphere are important regions for the prediction of weather at the Earth's surface for medium‐ and long‐range forecasts. The availability of observations in these layers is lower than that of the troposphere, especially for the dynamics. While seeking new observational sources is important, there are existing infrasound data sets that provide indirect observations of these layers to be exploited. Infrasound waves generated at the Earth's surface travel horizontally and vertically through the atmosphere, and can be detected by sensor arrays at ranges of hundreds or thousands of kilometers. These waves are affected by the atmospheric conditions they encounter during propagation, and the integrated contributions can be observed in the recorded observations. Inverse problem techniques can be readily used to extract information from these integrated observations and provide valuable data related to the atmospheric conditions. We exploit observations from controlled ammunition explosions in Oklahoma, which generate waves traveling to 30–50 km altitude before being refracted back to the surface and detected 256 km from the explosion site. As model background we use the 10‐member European Reanalysis product, valid 1 hr before the explosions. We use the Modulated Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter to combine these two sources of information and obtain updated atmospheric profiles. The assimilated observations bring the atmospheric profiles closer to those obtained by solely interpolating the reanalysis product to the time of the explosions. The most benefited altitudes are those close to the refraction heights of the infrasound waves, 35–55 km. Plain Language Summary: Observations of stratospheric and mesospheric variables are rare, particularly of winds. There are, however, indirect and underutilized observations which can help constrain variables in these levels. Detonations at the Earth's surface generate infrasound waves which travel horizontally and vertically through the atmosphere. As they travel, they are affected by winds and temperature. The integrated effect is contained in observations taken when these waves are detected at specialized sensor stations. In this work, we use data assimilation techniques to extract information of the atmospheric variables from integrated observations. We take advantage of a unique data set of infrasound recorded from a set of controlled explosions in Oklahoma. Key Points: There are sensor arrays around the world constantly measuring infrasound waves, providing unique long‐term data sets of opportunityWe use indirect observations to update middle atmospheric variables (temperature and winds) which are otherwise sparsely observedThis is the first work performing data assimilation with a full ray‐tracing routine as observation operator and applied to recorded data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1029/2025JD044841 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 23 StartPage: 1 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Mesosphere Type: general – SubjectFull: Weather forecasting Type: general – SubjectFull: Weather Type: general – SubjectFull: Stratosphere Type: general – SubjectFull: Infrasonic waves Type: general – SubjectFull: Data assimilation Type: general – SubjectFull: Inverse problems Type: general – SubjectFull: Sensor arrays Type: general – SubjectFull: Oklahoma Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Listening to the Atmosphere: Using Infrasound Observations to Infer Atmospheric Conditions. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Amezcua, Javier – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Averbuch, Gil – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Näsholm, Sven Peter – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Arrowsmith, Stephen IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 16 M: 03 Text: 3/16/2026 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 2169897X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 131 – Type: issue Value: 5 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Geophysical Research. Atmospheres Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
