The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is holding a workshop for scientists on using ‘infrasound’ in the coming months.
About Infrasound:
It refers to sound waves with very low frequencies, in contrast to the more ubiquitous ultrasound.
It can be produced by a passing meteor, a storm, an aurora up north, volcanoes, earthquakes or even nuclear explosions.
Infrasonic waves can cause minute changes in the atmospheric pressure, which can be measured by micro barometers.
These noiseless sounds can travel very long distances without losing steam — a property that CTBTO finds useful for detecting distant nuclear explosions.
The CTBTO’s International Monitoring System (IMS) uses a range of technologies to detect nuclear explosions. Its Infrasound Network (that is being built) is the only global monitoring network of its kind, with plans to build a network of 60 array stations in 35 countries.
Applications of Infrasound
It can be used to check the structural health of buildings, dams or bridges — because infrasonic waves can pass through dense materials and reveal internal stress, cracks or other defects.
In the field of aerospace, low-frequency sounds generated during a rocket’s lift-off can cue the stress and behaviour of a rocket, or detect aerodynamic instabilities of an aircraft.
In mining, infrasound can help check the integrity of mine shafts or determine whether a dynamite blast was successful.
This sound has also been used in wildlife tracking, such as monitoring the movement of whales.
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