Ground motions and the infrasound signal: A new model and the discovery of a significant cavity rebound signal. Los Alamos Source Region Program

摘要

A model is presented that relates infrasound signals from underground nuclear tests to the peak vertical velocity at surface-ground-zero. For the most part, agreement between the model and observations is good, the exceptions being events conducted in shallow tuff layers in Yucca Flat. These events all have low values of the peak surface velocity. The authors have determined that the lack of agreement for these events is due to an unusual, second spall event. A stress-wave calculation is presented that reproduces the second-spall phenomenon and indicates that it is due to interference of cavity-rebound-associated signal with the initial ballistic motion of the surface layers. The effect of the rebound signal is to increase the amplitude of the infrasound signal and thus make low velocity events more detectable.