I. P. Chunchuzov

Simulating the influence of an atmospheric fine inhomogeneous structure on long-range propagation of pulsed acoustic signals

The results of simulating the influence of an atmospheric fine structure on the characteristics of acoustic signals propagating throughout the atmosphere for long distances from their sources are presented. A numerical model of an atmospheric fine inhomogeneous structure within the height range z = 20…120 km is proposed to perform calculations. This model and its numerical parameters are based on the current notions of the formation of an atmospheric fine structure due to internal gravity waves. The numerical calculations were performed using the parabolic-equation method. A spatial structure of the acoustic field and the structure of an acoustic signal at long distances from a pulsed source were calculated. It is shown that the presence of an atmospheric fine structure results in a scattering of acoustic signals and their recording in the geometric shadow region. The results of calculations of signal forms are in a satisfactory agreement with data on signals recorded in the geometric shadow region which is formed at a distance of about 300 km from an experimental explosion.

Infrasound Scattering from Atmospheric Anisotropic Inhomogeneities

A model of anisotropic fluctuations forming in wind velocity and air temperature in a stably stratified atmosphere is described. The formation mechanism of these fluctuations is associated with the cascade transport of energy from sources of atmospheric gravity waves to wave disturbances with shorter vertical scales (than the scales of the initial disturbances generated by the sources) and, at the same time, with longer horizontal scales. This model is used to take into account the effects of infrasonic-wave scattering from anisotropic inhomogeneities of the effective sound speed in the atmosphere. Experimental data on the stratospheric, mesospheric, and thermospheric arrivals of signals (generated by explosion sources such as surface explosions and volcanoes) in the zones of acoustic shadow are interpreted on the basis of the results of calculations of the scattered infrasonic field in the context of the parabolic equation. The signals calculated with consideration for the fine structure of wind velocity and air temperature are compared with the signals observed in a shadow zone. The possibility to acoustically sound this structure at heights of both the middle and upper atmospheres is discussed.

On acoustic N -wave reflections from atmospheric layered inhomogeneities

The nonlinear propagation of acoustic pulses from a point source of an explosive character (surface explosion or volcano) throughout the atmosphere with stratified wind-velocity and temperature inhomogeneities is studied. The nonlinear distortions of acoustic pulse and its transformation into an N-wave during its propagation to the upper atmosphere are analyzed in the context of a modified Burgers’ equation which takes into account a geometric ray-tube divergence simultaneously with an increase in both nonlinear and dissipative effects with height due to a decrease in atmospheric density. The problem of reflection of a spherical N-wave from an atmospheric inhomogeneous layer with model vertical wind-velocity and temperature fluctuations having a vertical spectrum that is close to that observed within the middle atmosphere is considered. The relation between the parameters (form, length, frequency spectrum, and intensity) of signals reflected from an atmospheric inhomogeneous layer and the parameters of the atmospheric fine layered structure at reflection heights is analyzed. The theoretically predicted forms of signals reflected from stratified inhomogeneities within the stratosphere and the lower thermosphere are compared to the observed typical forms of both stratospheric and thermospheric arrivals from surface explosions and volcanoes in the zones of an acoustic shadow.

Physical modeling of long-range infrasonic propagation in the atmosphere

The results of experiments on the physical modeling of long-range infrasonic propagation in the atmosphere are given. Such modeling is based on the possible coincidence between the forms of the vertical profiles of the effective sound speed stratification in the atmospheric boundary layer (between 0 and 600 m for the case under consideration) and in the atmosphere as a whole (from the land surface up to thermospheric heights (about 150 km)). The source of acoustic pulses was an oscillator of detonation type. Owing to the detonation of a gas mixture of air (or oxygen) and propane, this generator was capable of producing short, powerful (the maximum acoustic pressure was on the order of 30 to 60 Pa at a distance of 50 to 100 m from the oscillator), and sufficiently stable acoustic pulses with a spectral maximum at frequencies of 40 to 60 Hz and a pulsing period of 20 to 30 s. The sites of acoustic-signal recording were located at different distances (up to 6.5 km) from the source and in different azimuthal directions. The temperature and wind stratifications were monitored in real time during the experiments with an acoustic locator—a sodar—and a temperature profiler. The data on the physical modeling of long-range sound propagation in the atmosphere are analyzed to verify the physical and mathematical models of predicting acoustic fields in the inhomogeneous moving atmosphere on the basis of the parabolic equation and the method of normal waves. A satisfactory agreement between calculated and experimental data is obtained. One more task was to compare the theoretical relations between variations in the azimuths and angles of tilting of sound rays about the horizon and the parameters of anisotropic turbulence in the lower troposphere and stratosphere with the experimental data. A theoretical interpretation of the experimental results is proposed on the basis of the theory of anisotropic turbulence in the atmosphere. The theoretical and experimental results are compared, and a satisfactory agreement between these results is noted.

Characteristics of a fine vertical wind-field structure in the stratosphere and lower thermosphere according to infrasonic signals in the zone of acoustic shadow

Results obtained from the acoustic sounding of a fine layered wind-field structure in the stratosphere, mesosphere, and lower thermosphere with the use of infrasonic waves from surface explosions and volcanic eruptions are given. These results were obtained using a new method of acoustic sounding of the atmosphere based on the phenomenon of infrasound scattering from anisotropic wind-velocity and temperature inhomogeneities into the zone of acoustic shadow. This method makes it possible to obtain data on the vertical wind-velocity structure and its time variability at lower thermospheric heights that are less accessible to other remote methods of atmospheric sounding, including both meteor (up to a height of 105 km) and satellite measurements.

Model of the three-dimensional spectrum of anisotropic temperature irregularities in a stably stratified atmosphere

A phenomenological model is proposed for the three-dimensional (3D) spectrum of temperature irregularities generated by internal waves in the atmosphere. This model develops a theory (Chunchuzov, 2002) based on the assumption that the field of the Lagrange displacements of the medium’s particles that are caused by a statistical ensemble of internal waves with randomly independent amplitudes and phases is stationary, homogeneous, axially symmetric in a horizontal plane, and Gaussian. To fit the model to measured spectra of fluctuations in the stratosphere and mesosphere, an additional assumption is introduced into the model that the degree of anisotropy of irregularities depends on their vertical size. An explicit expression is presented for the 3D spectrum. The model vertical spectrum follows a power law with an exponent of −3. The horizontal spectrum has three asymptotically power portions. Two of these are characterized by an exponent of −3, whereas an intermediate portion has an exponent of −1 to −3, depending on the rate at which the degree of anisotropy decreases as the vertical size of temperature irregularities increases. Simple asymptotic formulas are obtained for the horizontal spectrum. Within the range of a few decades, the model is in good agreement with the published results of measuring the spectra in the upper troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere.

Internal gravity-shear waves in the atmospheric boundary layer from acoustic remote sensing data

The year-round continuous remote sounding of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) by means of the Doppler acoustic radar (sodar) LATAN-3 has been performed at the Zvenigorod Scientific Station of the Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, since 2008. A visual analysis of sodar echograms for four years revealed a large number of wavelike patterns in the intensity field of a scattered sound signal. Similar patterns were occasionally identified before in sodar, radar, and lidar sounding data. These patterns in the form of quasi-periodic inclined stripes, or cat’s eyes, arise under stable stratification and significant vertical wind shears and result from the loss of the dynamic stability of the flow. In the foreign literature, these patterns, which we call internal gravity-shear waves, are often associated with Kelvin-Helmholtz waves. In the present paper, sodar echograms are classified according to the presence or absence of wavelike patterns, and a statistical analysis of the frequency of their occurrence by the year and season was performed. A relationship between the occurrence of the patterns and wind shear and between the wave length and amplitude was investigated. The criteria for the identification of gravity-shear waves, meteorological conditions of their excitation, and issues related to their observations were discussed.

On Experience in using the remote acoustic method of partial reflections in studies of the lower troposphere

Using the phenomenon of the partial reflection of acoustic waves from anisotropic wind-velocity and temperature inhomogeneities in the lower troposphere is justified in determining the structure of these inhomogeneities. The data (obtained with the method of bistatic acoustic sounding) on signals reflected from stratified inhomogeneities in the lower 600-m layer of the troposphere are given. A detonation-type pulsed acoustic source was used. The methods of isolating a small (in amplitude) reflected signal against the background of noise and determining the reflecting-layer height and the partial-reflection coefficient from the measured parameters (time delay and amplitude) of a reflected signal are presented. The method of estimating the vertical gradients of the effective sound speed and the squared acoustic refractive index from the partial-reflection coefficient previously calculated is described on the basis of an Epstein transition-layer model. The indicated parameters are experimentally estimated for concrete cases of recording reflected signals. A comparison of our estimates with independent analogous data simultaneously obtained for the same parameters with monitoring instruments (a sodar and a temperature profiler) has yielded satisfactory results.

Space and time variations in the fine structure of the upper atmosphere according to acoustic sounding data

The results of studying variations in the fine layered structure of the upper atmosphere (heights of 20–140 km) according to data obtained from acoustic sounding within the range of infrasonic waves are given. The sources of infrasounds were surface explosions equivalent to 10 kg to 70 t of TNT. These explosions were set off in different seasons in different regions of Russia. Experimental data obtained in 1981–2011 have been analyzed. It has been found that the fine structure in the form of vertically distributed layered formations occurs in the upper atmosphere in all seasons. Moreover, the vertical distribution of both air-temperature and wind-velocity inhomogeneities in the upper atmosphere may be invariable over a time interval of no less than several hours. It has also been found that, throughout the entire atmospheric thickness from the stratopause to the lower thermosphere heights (up to 140 km), the instantaneous height distribution of layered air-temperature and wind-velocity inhomogeneities may remain almost unchanged during a time interval of no less than 20 min.

The propagation of an acoustic pulse in a near-ground atmospheric waveguide

A wave theory of propagation of an acoustic pulse in a moving stratified atmospheric layer above the ground with a finite impedance of an underlying ground surface is developed. The shapes of acoustic signals in a near-ground atmospheric waveguide, which are formed due to temperature inversion and a vertical shear of the wind velocity, are calculated based on this theory. These signals are compared with those measured during the experiments where vertical profiles of the wind velocity and temperature in an atmospheric boundary layer have been continuously controlled using a sodar, a temperature profile meter, and acoustic anemometers or thermometers mounted on a 56-meter-high mast. The joint action of a near-ground acoustic waveguide, the impedance of the underlying surface, and a vertical layered structure of the boundary atmospheric layer on a signal shape far from the acoustic source are studied.