Bolide infrasound signal morphology and yield estimates: A case study of two events detected by a dense acoustic sensor network

TL;DR

This study analyzes infrasound signals from two bolides to estimate their yield, location, and shock type, comparing results with ground truth data to improve understanding of bolide shock processes.

Contribution

It presents a multi-modal framework combining infrasound and other data to analyze bolide shock generation and propagation, highlighting the method's effectiveness and limitations.

Findings

Infrasound estimates generally agree with ground truth data.

Yield estimates from infrasound were lower for the 2019 bolide.

Evidence of a cylindrical shock propagation was observed.

Abstract

Two bolides (2 June 2016 and 4 April 2019) were detected at multiple regional infrasound stations with many of the locations receiving multiple detections. Analysis of the received signals was used to estimate the yield, location and trajectory, and the type of shock that produced the received signal. The results from the infrasound analysis were compared with ground truth information that was collected through other sensing modalities. This multi-modal framework offers an expanded perspective on the processes governing bolide shock generation and propagation. The majority of signal features showed reasonable agreement between the infrasound-based interpretation and the other observational modalities, though the yield estimate from the 2019 bolide was significantly lower using the infrasound detections. There was also evidence suggesting that one of the detections was from a cylindrical shock that was initially propagating upward, which is unusual though not impossible.