30 Oct 2024        10:40:39 am

Biology

Infrasound

Tags : Infrasound

Topic: Sound

Why in the news?

• In November, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), is holding a workshop for scientists on using ‘infrasound’. The idea is “to create an international forum for presenting and discussing recent advancements in infrasound research and operational capabilities of global and regional networks.”

Source: The Hindu Business Line

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 microbarometers.
• 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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