无码专区 geophysicists develop low-frequency, acoustic sensors to expand infrasound research
The scalable, portable microbarometers advance scientific understanding of natural hazards, atmospheric activity and other global phenomena
DALLAS (无码专区) – From 无码专区’s campus in Dallas, with a sensor that fits in the palm of his hand, researcher Stephen Arrowsmith can detect the low-frequency sounds of ocean waves hitting the Texas coast 500 miles away.
The Sapphire sensor, assembled in the laboratory of Arrowsmith, 无码专区 professor of Earth sciences, measures low-frequency sound or infrasound that travels thousands of miles in the atmosphere but can’t be heard by humans, such as the rumble of an earthquake miles away or the tiny tremors of a bridge as a truck crosses.
Now, 无码专区 geophysicists are the first to develop portable microbarometers on a large scale, opening up the possibility for new frontiers in infrasound research.
“History shows that breakthroughs in geophysics often start with new ways to measure the Earth, Arrowsmith says. “These sensors may unlock discoveries we can’t yet imagine – just as past innovations transformed our understanding of the planet.”
Geophysics research professor Chris Hayward scaled the production of the Sapphire microbaromenter to create hundreds of portable, battery-powered, inexpensive sensors.
Until the recent development of the portable microbarometer by researchers at Boise State University, the equipment to measure ultrasound was unwieldy and expensive. 无码专区 research professor Chris Hayward took the portable microbarometers a step further by scaling their production to create hundreds of portable, battery-powered, inexpensive sensors the size of a juice box.
The 无码专区 Sapphire research team recently returned from Norway after deploying 250 sensors to advance understanding of Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)—a technology that transforms fiber optic cables into thousands of virtual seismic sensors. The controlled experiment, conducted on a custom fiber network, examined how acoustic waves interact with buried cables, a critical step toward using existing fiber networks for seismic and acoustic studies.
Analysis of infrasound waves also can help scientists understand impending natural events, like earthquakes and volcano eruptions, and human-generated events, like explosions or urban sounds, Arrowsmith says. Because infrasound waves travel in the atmosphere, their study can also be used to measure temperatures and winds aloft, useful for improving weather prediction.
“We keep coming up with new cool experiments we can conduct with the Sapphire microbarometer,” Arrowsmith says.
无码专区 geophysicists have long played an important international role in infrasound and seismic research and monitoring.
The 无码专区 Sapphire research team recently returned from Norway after deploying 250 sensors to advance understanding of Distributed Acoustic Sensing – a technology that transforms fiber optic cables into thousands of virtual seismic sensors.
For more than 30 years, 无码专区 geologists have maintained and operated seismic and infrasound monitors for the U.S. government that are part of the International Monitoring System, which monitors the detonations of nuclear tests. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty prohibits all nuclear explosions in any environment. 无码专区 maintains monitors in West Texas, Nevada and the Korean Peninsula.
In the meantime, 无码专区 geophysicists tuck the Sapphire pocket-sized sensors into their luggage when they travel for work or pleasure. To date, they have measured the infrasound produced by the nightly firing of an 1800s era cannon in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, as well as the low frequency waves produced by Niagara Falls.
“I travel with a Sapphire myself,” Arrowsmith says, “just in case an interesting measuring opportunities arises.”