Earthquakes Detectable From Space by GPS

Iphtashu Fitz writes "Research sponsored mainly by the European Space Agency has demonstrated that earthquakes generate acoustic signals, almost like a huge loudspeaker, that can be detected from space. According to an ABC News Science/Technology article, geophysicist Juliette Artru came up with the concept while working on her doctorate degree. By monitoring an array of GPS receivers located throughout California she was able to determine that a massive 7.9 earthquake in Alaska last year resulted in the constillation of GPS satellites generating a mesaurable amount of interference. According to Artru, "A displacement of one millimeter on the ground can cause a displacement of 100 meters in the ionosphere," so a tiny pressure wave created by an earthquake can undergo huge amplification by the time it reaches the ionosphere. The resulting shockwave causes a tiny but very distinct pattern of interference in the GPS signals broadcast by the satellites."

Comments

Do it with bistatic shortwave?

[G4from128k]

If small ground motions propagate to large amplitude acoustic effects in the ionosphere, then the effects should be detectable with shortwave radio. A bistatic transmitter-receiver pair would be configured to bounce its signal off some part of the ionosphere. Acoustic vibrations in that layer should create detectable distortion in the shortwave signals. It may not be as exciting as GPS, but it may enable detection of ionospheric disturbances over inaccessible parts of the planet by locating the bistatic pair on either side of the region.