Acoustic Waves From a Distant Explosion Recorded on a Continuously Ascending Balloon in the Middle Stratosphere

Abstract

Abstract A helium‐filled mylar balloon carrying a smartphone and infrasound sensors ascended to a stratospheric height of 35 km over the surface detonation of a chemical explosive, with a total acoustic propagation distance of 127 km. The smartphone was configured to collect multi‐modal data at high rates from internal sensors. Analysis of the data shows successful collection of the explosion signal by both the smartphone's microphone and its accelerometers, the first from an ascending balloon. Comparison of the acoustic signal with that collected by other infrasound sensors, both airborne and ground‐based, provides insight into the possibilities and limitations of collecting acoustic data from the stratosphere.

Keywords

• acoustic waves
• infrasound
• balloon
• explosion
• signal processing