Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

15
National Center for Physical Acoustics 1986 The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8 Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound Claus Hetzer 1 , Roger Waxler 1 , Carrick Talmadge 1 , Milton Garces 2 , Ken Gilbert 1 , Henry Bass 1 1 National Center for Physical Acoustics The University of Mississippi 2 Infrasound Laboratory The University of Hawaii, Manoa Distribution A – Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

description

Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound. Claus Hetzer 1 , Roger Waxler 1 , Carrick Talmadge 1 , Milton Garces 2 , Ken Gilbert 1 , Henry Bass 1 1 National Center for Physical Acoustics The University of Mississippi 2 Infrasound Laboratory The University of Hawaii, Manoa. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Transcript of Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

Page 1: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

Claus Hetzer1, Roger Waxler1, Carrick Talmadge1, Milton Garces2, Ken Gilbert1, Henry Bass1

1National Center for Physical AcousticsThe University of Mississippi

2Infrasound LaboratoryThe University of Hawaii, Manoa

Distribution A – Approved for public release; distribution unlimited.

Page 2: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Hurricane Readiness• Hurricanes pose great

danger to coastal communities

• Hurricane warnings often are not trusted and thus ignored

• Forecast of storm intensity at landfall particularly difficult

• Great interest in accurate remote sensing of hurricanes to improve short-term forecasting

Page 3: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Hurricane Infrasound: Microbaroms

• Hurricanes known to produce infrasound in microbarom band

• Microbaroms generated by nonlinear interaction of oppositely-directed ocean surface waves

• Infrasonic observations include Kirogi, Carlotta (2000), Daniel (2001), Adeline-Juliet, Katrina, Ophelia (2005), Usagi (2007)

• On gross scale, signal azimuths point at storm

Page 4: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Typhoon Usagi (2007)

Palau: Lat 7.5N

Page 5: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Typhoon Usagi (2007)

Detections consistently behind storm

Atmospheric modeling predicts < 5° deviation

Page 6: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Cyclone Adeline-Juliet (2005)

Page 7: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Cyclone Adeline-Juliet (2005)

Detections track storm roughly, but rarely point at eye

Page 8: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Hurricane Fabian (2003)

Highest-intensity microseisms happen after storm passes the station!

Page 9: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Microbarom Source Region

• Some questions exist regarding the location of the infrasound source region

• All models require a mechanism for producing opposing wavetrains

• Proposed models generally take into account only waves generated by storm winds, i.e. Tabulevich (right)

Page 10: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

More Inclusive Model• Microbaroms may be

generated by the interaction between storm waves and the ambient wave field

• This interaction can produce opposing swells hundreds of kilometers from the storm eye

• In agreement with previous and current work (Garces, Willis, Chevrot)

Page 11: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

More Inclusive Model• Fine detail from wave

models may not be reliable, but general trends of opposition are evident

• Implication: acoustic modeling/monitoring of hurricanes requires knowledge of ambient wave field

• This may be nontrivial in near-landfall situations

Page 12: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Usagi: Pristine Case

Page 13: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Adeline-Juliet: More Complicated

Page 14: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Conclusions

• Microbarom bearing data for two observed hurricanes is seen to deviate from point of highest winds

• This appears to be a result of interactions with the ambient surface wave field, in agreement with microbarom theory and previous/current work

• Acoustic studies and models of hurricanes must take the ambient wave field into account

• This analysis should be expanded to as many known infrasound recordings of hurricanes as possible, particular from island stations

Page 15: Hurricane Studies Using Infrasound

National Center for Physical Acoustics1986

The University of Mississippi 1 8 4 8

Next Steps

• More storms, more stations!• Start running WaveWatch III model – higher

resolution?• Separate out source, propagation, array

components of azimuth scatter

• Relationship: Δaz(Wstorm,Wambient)