Influence of infrasonic waves on the ionosphere

Experimental ionospheric data obtained during underground nuclear and small yield chemical explosions show that the resulting acoustic waves are an ef ficient way to transport the energy of the dynamic processes developing in the low atmosphere to the ionosphere. In this contribution a new wave equat ion and its solution has been obtained to describe the propagation of the a coustic wave in an inhomogeneous atmosphere. On the basis of this work a co rresponding computer simulation code was developed to determine the spatial dimensions of acoustic disturbances as a function of ionospheric height. T he calculations demonstrate that earth surface point sources can produce ac oustic disturbances which have dimensions of several hundred kilometres. (C ) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.