The spatial structure of the acoustic wave field generated in the atmosphere by a point explosion

The Mill Race experiment is used as an example to demonstrate the possibili ty of calculating the propagation characteristics of acoustic impulses gene rated by surface point explosions up to ionospheric heights with the use of the models that are based on the known exact solutions for homogeneous med ia with corrections for inhomogeneity. It is shown that, in the terrestrial atmosphere, the height where the amplitude of the particle velocity of an acoustic impulse reaches its maximum is independent of both the explosion p ower and the angle of departure of an acoustic ray. This height is about 12 0 kin and depends mainly on the vertical atmospheric density profile. (C) 2 001 MAIK "Nauka/Interperiodica".