Analysis of infrasound array data from tornadic storms in the southeastern United States

Abstract

Data recorded by several infrasound sensor arrays deployed in the southeastern United States during the spring of 2018 have been analyzed during a period when a storm front passed through and spawned several tornado touchdowns. The tornadoes ranged from EF-0 to EF-2. Accurate bearings have been obtained, corresponding to tornadoes at ranges up to more than 100 km. Earlier in the day, a convective storm cell passed and triggered a tornado warning but no verified tornado touchdowns. During this earlier passage, a weaker signal was detected with bearings that tracked this convective storm cell. The analyses reveal that on the systems deployed, the dominant band of coherent infrasound measured from the tornadic storms was between 2 and 6 Hz. Atmospheric conditions are known to have a significant influence on signal detection because of propagation effects and local wind noise conditions. Propagation modeling and wind noise analysis were undertaken and are observed to be consistent with signal detection from the tornadoes. Because of the static sources, as well as the multiple strong cells that were in the region simultaneously, it was necessary to use array signal processing methods that are capable of resolving multiple sources.