Primary calibration for airborne infrasound utilizing the vertical gradient of the ambient pressure

Abstract

The demand for reliable and traceable measurements of airborne infrasound has risen, one major application being the International Monitoring System run by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. However, the current calibration methods do not sufficiently cover the infrasound frequency range. In this paper, we present a calibration method for microphones in this frequency range and its implementation as a measurement setup. The method is based on the vertical gradient of the ambient pressure as a stimulus. A DUT is subjected to an alternating pressure by periodically changing its altitude. The measurement setup realizes such a periodic altitude change by means of a vertically rotating disk and is capable of calibrating measurement microphones in a frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 5 Hz with a planned extension to 10 Hz. A measurement uncertainty of 0.07 dB at maximum could be realized. Particular attention was paid to the mechanics of the measurement setup to ensure that the DUT moves in a precisely determined orbit. We present example calibrations and an uncertainty budget for a Brüel & Kjær 4193 measurement microphone in the frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 5 Hz. Finally, we demonstrate the performance of the calibration method by comparing the acquired results to other calibration techniques showing an agreement better than 0.1 dB.