Space Shuttle and Meteroid--Tracking Supersonic Objects in the Atmosphere with Seismographs

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Abstract
Regional seismograph networks can sometimes be used to locate impulsive atmospheric disturbances as well as earthquakes. Atmospheric events are difficult to detect in this manner because they usually transfer little seismic energy into the ground. Also, many modern digitally recording seismograph networks may fail to record atmospheric events if stations are spaced many tens of kilometers apart, and the networks utilize an event detection algorithm tuned to record earthquakes that generate seismic waves with apparent surface velocities greater than 5 km/sec. Nevertheless, the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN) sometimes records more slowly propagating sonic booms caused by supersonic aircraft, particularly when the aircraft pass over regions like Mount St. Helens having closely spaced seismographs. We describe two incidents in which seismic records have been used to track a space shuttle and a meteoroid traveling at supersonic speeds in the atmosphere.