THEORETICAL PREDICTION OF ACOUSTIC-GRAVITY PRESSURE WAVEFORMS GENERATED BY LARGE EXPLOSIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE

Abstract
A computer program is described which enables one to compute the pressure waveform at a distant point following the detonation of a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere. The theoretical basis of the program and the numerical methods used in its formulation are explained; a deck listing and instructions for the program's operation are included. The primary limitation on the program's applicability to realistic situations is that the atmosphere is assumed to be perfectly stratified. However, the temperature and wind profiles may be arbitrarily specified. Numerical studies carried out by the program show some discrepancies with previous computations by Harkrider for the case of an atmosphere without winds. These discrepancies are analyzed and shown to be due to different formulations of the source model for a nuclear explosion. Other numerical studies explore the effects of various atmospheric parameters on the waveforms. In the remainder of the report, two alternate theoretical formulations of the problem are described. The first of these is based on the neglect of the vertical acceleration term in the equations of hydrodynamics and allows a solution by Cagniard's integral transform technique. The second is based on the hypothesis of propagation in a single guided mode and permits a study of the effects of departures from stratification on the waveforms.

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