The Possibility of Detecting Explosions Using Ionosonde

Abstract

An explosion can occur underground, on the surface of the earth and in the atmosphere. During an explosion, primary, secondary, Love and Rayleigh surface waves arise; the same waves are generated during an earthquake. We differentiate acoustic, gravity, acoustic-gravity and surface waves. The elliptically propagating Rayleigh wave is the one which can be examined. The atmospheric wave generated by surface waves can travel long distances, reaching the ionosphere. Depending on how much explosive energy it receives, it can travel all the way to the top layer. The ionosphere, as part of the thermosphere, extends from 60 km up to the exosphere starting at 600 km and can be divided into several sublayers. Those are the D, E and F layers. Nowadays, the ionosphere is continuously studied, primarily in the field of radio communications. Digisonde or ionosonde can be used to study the layers and examine the state of the ionosphere. The DPS4D is capable of detecting anomalies in real time.