Scientists are using acoustic shock waves from thunder and existing fiber-optic infrastructure to map the Earth's subsurface structure.
Key facts
- •Thunder creates acoustic shock waves that travel through various Earth materials, including soft soil and bedrock.
- •The research team used the SPECFEM3D Cartesian software to model seismic wave behavior.
- •Researchers compensated for model limitations by stretching the top 20 meters of the Earth to 200 meters in their simulations.
- •A 4-kilometer fiber-optic line at Penn State served as the primary sensor for the study.
- •The study validates that fiber-optic cables can act as seismometers to capture data from atmospheric events.
Researchers are utilizing the acoustic shock waves generated by thunder to conduct seismic imaging of the Earth's structure. By leveraging existing fiber-optic cabling, the team is able to capture data as these waves interact with the ground. The project tests the viability of using atmospheric events to map subsurface conditions, overcoming previous concerns regarding the complexity of modeling such phenomena.
By the numbers
Modeling Seismic Waves
To analyze seismic data from thunder, the team utilized a software package called SPECFEM3D Cartesian. Because the software treats the atmosphere as a 3.6 km-thick homogeneous layer and updates at a slower frequency than the waves, researchers had to make adjustments, including stretching the top 20 meters of the Earth to cover 200 meters.
Testing with Fiber-Optic Sensing
The researchers tested their model against real-world data by monitoring thunderstorms passing over the Penn State campus. They utilized a 4-kilometer fiber-optic line specifically set aside for seismic sensing, demonstrating that standard fiber-optic infrastructure can function as a seismometer to detect energy transmitted through the ground.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by Ars Technica.
