Simulating Meteor Blast Wave Propagation on the Planet Mars using Nonlinear Acoustics
Open Access
- Author:
- Hetherington, Lily
- Graduate Program:
- Acoustics
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- May 20, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Victor Ward Sparrow, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Amanda D Hanford, Committee Member
Andrew Barnard, Program Head/Chair
Christopher Howard House, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Acoustics
Nonlinear Acoustics
Mars
Meteors
Atmospheric Acoustics
Sonic Boom - Abstract:
- Models of the Martian atmosphere from Bass and Chambers [2001], Williams [2001] and Petculescu [2016] predict that it absorbs sound more than Earth’s atmosphere. The experiments that have been done with Ingenuity and are being done with the Perseverance microphone will begin to confirm the accuracy of such models [Maurice et al., 2022]. Because these models predict high sound absorption, even at short distances, only high amplitude, low frequency sound waves will propagate well on Mars. Meteors are an expected high amplitude sound source that have already been documented on Mars. Presented is an analysis of simulation of the infrasound signature of a meteor blast wave as it would be received after traveling through the Martian atmosphere. Starting from replicating the absorption model from Bass and Chambers, a model of the Martian atmosphere that includes nonlinear behavior was built up to simulate high amplitude sound wave propagation. This work follows a similar approach that has been used to validate and update models used to predict meteor blast waves in the Earth’s atmosphere [Edwards, 2009], [Nemec et al., 2017]. The augmented Burgers’ solver developed by Cleveland and Hamilton was verified for nonlinearity and absorption that describe the Earth’s atmosphere and then used to simulate these parameters for a model Martian atmosphere. A blast pulse for a meteor with a high Mach number is approximated as a cylindrical sound source that is propagated through a homogeneous form of the Martian atmosphere. The solver outputs the waveform as it would be received at a number of distances from the source. Understanding meteor blast waves on Mars will help distinguish ground excitation by acoustic waves and meteorite impacts from seismic waves, improving study of Mars’ seismology [Garcia et al., 2022]. In certain situations, these sounds might be heard by human visitors to Mars, so understanding the sounds will enhance astronaut safety and well-being. The current model sets the stage for future validation efforts when measured data becomes available. In the future the model could be enhanced by utilizing a profile for an inhomogeneous model of the Martian atmosphere to use for the same simulations.