Detection of infrasonic energy from tornado-producing storms

There are numerous reports in the literature on the observation of infrasound emitted from tornadic thunderstorms. Most of these observations have been made from sensors that are several hundreds of kilometers from the location of the storm, and “ground truth” about the tornadic activity is not well...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2012-09, Vol.132 (3_Supplement), p.2073-2073
Main Authors: Talmadge, Carrick L., Fraizer, William G., Waxler, Roger, Park, Joseph C., Kleinert, Daniel E., Carter, Geoffery E., Godbold, Gerald, Harris, David, Williams, Chad, Buchanan, Hank R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:There are numerous reports in the literature on the observation of infrasound emitted from tornadic thunderstorms. Most of these observations have been made from sensors that are several hundreds of kilometers from the location of the storm, and “ground truth” about the tornadic activity is not well established. We report here on a campaign carried out during the summer of 2011 in which 50 infrasound microphones were deployed, as part of an ongoing multi-university program on hazard detection and alert funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Sensors were placed along the paths of developing tornadic storms. We focus here on a severe weather outbreak that took place near Oklahoma City on May 24, 2011, in which a total of 7 tornados including one F5 and two F2 tornados were produced. Three sensors were located between the paths of an F4 and an F5 tornado, and 11 additional sensors were located northeast of an F4 tornado that generated a 75-km track. Substantial meteorological information, including ground truth about tornados (intensity and size as a function of time), and the relative close proximity of the sensors to the storms, provides us with a level of detail not available in previous storms. We will report on our infrasound measurements and analysis from this outbreak as well as discuss data from two other interceptions of tornadic storms, which occurred on May 30 and June 19, 2011.
ISSN:0001-4966
1520-8524
DOI:10.1121/1.4755643