Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

First Observations of Microbaroms with Single Absolute Barometers

Ganesh K. Subramanian Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts

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Andreas Muschinski Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts

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Print Publication:
01 Jul 2011
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/2011JTECHA1526.1
Page(s):
933–943
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Abstract

The first observations of microbaroms with single absolute barometers are presented and discussed. Microbaroms are pulses of atmospheric infrasound emitted by ocean surface waves. They can propagate over thousands of kilometers through the atmosphere, and they can reach altitudes well into the upper atmosphere before they are refracted down to the earth’s surface. Typical microbarom periods are 5 s, typical wavelengths are 1.5 km, and typical surface amplitudes are 100 mPa (1 μbar). The data presented here were collected during the 2-week period from 26 February through 10 March 2008 in Amherst, Massachusetts, which is located about 150 km away from the Atlantic Ocean. The authors report for the first time, to the best of their knowledge, an f−5 microbarom frequency spectrum, which is consistent with Phillips’s f−5 ocean surface wave equilibrium spectrum.

Corresponding author address: Andreas Muschinski, 151 Holdsworth Way, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachussetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003-9284. E-mail: muschinski@ecs.umass.edu

Abstract

The first observations of microbaroms with single absolute barometers are presented and discussed. Microbaroms are pulses of atmospheric infrasound emitted by ocean surface waves. They can propagate over thousands of kilometers through the atmosphere, and they can reach altitudes well into the upper atmosphere before they are refracted down to the earth’s surface. Typical microbarom periods are 5 s, typical wavelengths are 1.5 km, and typical surface amplitudes are 100 mPa (1 μbar). The data presented here were collected during the 2-week period from 26 February through 10 March 2008 in Amherst, Massachusetts, which is located about 150 km away from the Atlantic Ocean. The authors report for the first time, to the best of their knowledge, an f−5 microbarom frequency spectrum, which is consistent with Phillips’s f−5 ocean surface wave equilibrium spectrum.

Corresponding author address: Andreas Muschinski, 151 Holdsworth Way, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachussetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003-9284. E-mail: muschinski@ecs.umass.edu
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Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology

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