Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute

 
Seismology Research
Bringing together seismology and atmospheric sciences
An overview of infrasound data acquisition, processing and interpretation
January 2004
Läslo Evers
The whole trajectory of data acquisition, processing and interpretation is described in this web article. The KNMI operates three infrasound arrays; the Deelen Infrasound Array (DIA) is configured with 16 KNMI microbarometers, and acquisitional considerations (instrument and array response) of DIA are described. Array processing techniques, like frequency slowness analysis combined with Fisher statistics, are explained and examplified. This technique enables the detection and identification of infrasonic sources. Raytracing through actual and empirical models is performed, to understand the observations of infrasound. Depending on the source characteristics and source receiver distance, different areas of atmosphere are probed. Infrasonic data which followed high atmospheric trajectories, i.e. higher than the troposphere, are well modeled. Tropospheric arrival are more difficult to model. Accounting for the instability of the troposphere (turbulence and inhomogeneity) might solve this ambiguity.