Ionospheric disturbances locate the 2009 North Korean underground nuclear test
Abstract
Ionospheric disturbances from the North Korean underground nuclear explosion (UNE) of 25 May 2009 were detected using the total electron content (TEC) measurements from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The TEC measurements were derived from the ionospheric delay of the GNSS signals and identified traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID) that can be attributed to the UNE. Taking three point numerical derivatives of the TEC measurements isolated the TIDs with propagation speeds of roughly 150 - 400 m/s at stations located about 365 km to 1330 km from the UNE. TIDs were detected at eleven stations where the statistical probability for these TIDs to have occurred randomly across the GNSS array was found to be less than one chance in 1033 chances. Nearly 1300 TID samples from these GNSS stations were tested to confirm the strong statistical uniqueness of the array signature. Furthermore, the GNSS observations mapped ionospheric winds for adjusting the TID velocities to locate the UNE to within about 2.7 km of its seismically determined epicenter.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.G53B0912P
- Keywords:
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- 1220 GEODESY AND GRAVITY / Atmosphere monitoring with geodetic techniques