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Exploding Munitions Caught On Seismometer (arstechnica.com)

Posted by Soulskill on from the detonations-for-science dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Seismometers have been deployed throughout the world. Scientists need a big web of them to gather data about earthquakes, and the network has expanded widely over the past 60 years. As it turns out, seismometers are pretty good at picking up vibrations from things that aren't earthquakes. A team of researchers scouring logs from 2006 were able to find clear evidence of the explosion of a munitions depot in Iraq. And that's not all: "The team, led by Ghassan Aleqabi of Washington University in St. Louis, carefully analyzed each wiggle on the seismograph and discovered it could identify a number of different things. The firing of a mortar, for example, was identifiable along with the explosion when the shell landed. Car bomb explosions also stood out, although the bouncing of the shockwave off surrounding buildings made each one a bit different. The team could even identify signals from drones and helicopters and figure out if they were approaching or moving away based on the Doppler shift."

20 comments

  1. Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Oh my god stop the presses! Thing that can detect shockwaves... detected shockwaves! Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet!

    1. Re:Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet! by pjt33 · · Score: 2

      With much more precision than most people would expect, to the extent that there are possibly applications in, for example, automatic response to ambushes before anyone radios in for help.

    2. Re:Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet! by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      The orders of magnitude between a volcanic or tectonic event and a drone or helicopter Doppler effect is staggering. Picking up an prop engine is impressive, any kind of directional information is way beyond what I would expect from ground sensors. It's like someone operating Doppler weather radar calling me to say there was a moth circling my front porch light. If I read this in a DARPA grant proposal I would be derisive... this level of sensitivity would imply a lot of (seemingly) white noise in seismographic records. Next they start telling people to check the tread depth on some of the tires passing near a sensor.

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    3. Re:Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet! by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      No, the ammo dump was 7 kilometers away. Dare I suggest opening the window someone could discern the different explosion types too, and maybe even listen for helicopters?

      ending 2015 with a stupid article, as expected of slashdot

    4. Re:Hooolllleeee sheeeeeeet! by KGIII · · Score: 1

      I'm inclined to agree. This is much more interesting than folks here seem to think. Maybe it's just me but I love tech news and this certainly qualifies. Anyone who claims that they expected or knew this, prior to this article, is full of shit or better have their names on this paper or some other article that predates this. I am, by no means, even remotely an expert but I've watched a shitton of documentaries over the years - many had segments on detecting things with a seismometer, and nothing indicated that they were at the point where they'd be able to detect things like this.

      Hell, I remember them being reasonably surprised that they could triangulate to find underground nuke tests.

      At any rate, to expand on this - at least in my head, it'd be interesting when we can not use this for forensic discovery but monitor things in real time and make accurate real-time interpretations and/or predictions based on the signals. I imagine that some deep machine learning, neural network, or AI type things might be applicable here. Alas, I am no guru and can only speculate but I'd not be surprised if we had that kind of compute horsepower available for fairly reasonable costs.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  2. Ohhhhhh yeah? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well I analyzed some wiggles on some seismographs too if you know what i'm sayin. /sigh

    Slow news day I guess.

  3. Uh oh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The government won't like seeing all their action exposed to the public like this. They might have to start answering questions, like who blew up the towers, if the seismographs don't match the narrative.

  4. Drones/ Helicopters ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It sound bull to me. If this was true, also all passenger planes, etc.

    1. Re:Drones/ Helicopters ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Planes fly much higher, are designed for relatively low noise and waves in 3D space propagate via the inverse square law.

  5. That's how the US found Kim Dotcom by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    He got out of bed and the seismographs had him pinpointed.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:That's how the US found Kim Dotcom by tinkerton · · Score: 1

      No that's gravimetry.

    2. Re:That's how the US found Kim Dotcom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kim Dotcoooooooooommmmmmm.

    3. Re:That's how the US found Kim Dotcom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only thing they need is a sufficiently accurate clock and a reference. When he gets out of bed, the time goes a little faster.

  6. BS on the 'drone detection', etc ... by fygment · · Score: 1

    ... that would be a signal so small it would be in the noise, along with animal and human footsteps, vehicle and air traffic, and the wind.

    --
    "Consensus" in science is _always_ a political construct.
  7. The ultimate in surveillance by Pikoro · · Score: 0

    Turning the entire world into a microphone!

    --
    "Freedom in the USA is not the ability to do what you want. It is the ability to stop others from doing what THEY want"
  8. we do this daily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    at the National Data Center. Have been for about 20 years. Why is this news?

    dpa

  9. A long time ago and far far away by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I worked on what was probably the first project to do this in 1972-1973 while in the Air Force. From a base in the far North of Thailand we were putting seismic sensors all over parts of South East Asia during the Vietnam War. When the NVA began moving heavy artillery down the Ho Chi Minh trail in 1972 and using it to fire into South Vietnam A crash project was begun to see if the existing types of sensors could locate the NVA artillery. Back at the base in Thailand we used some C-4 to simulate the artillery and planted sensors by hand all around the base. I planted most of the sensors and claim that was my PHD (Post Hole Digger) degree. I was never told how well it worked but at least it was fun to ride around and play with C-4 and some cool sensors without being too much in harms way.

    1. Re:A long time ago and far far away by KGIII · · Score: 2

      Interestingly enough, I'm vaguely familiar with the project you mention and the two aren't really dissimilar but they're not exactly the same either. Those were, as far as I know, much closer to the source and were a bit more fine tuned than the seismometers that this is referencing.

      That said, an interesting aside - and continuation, the devices that you placed were not always placed by hand. Some were dropped along the sides of the trails by airplane and helicopters. The Viet Minh knew about some of them and found some of them. They'd often then do things like move the sensors or create noise to deliberately mislead those listening to the sensors.

      I am not certain but I also recollect reading about them being in use in Laos and Cambodia during that same time period and along the borders where the NVA also would travel but not specifically along the Ho Chi Minh trails. I'd speculate that there is much to this story that I've not heard and that there were probably additional uses then and now. I find it hard to believe that the entirety of the truth has been told.

      So, for their effectiveness, I can say that I have read (and seen in at least one documentary) that the Viet Minh/Cong/NVA knew something about them and made use of them to confuse trackers and mask movements. I seem to recall reading about some of them being put in place by some LRP forces but I may be conflating two separate programs at this point and can only guess that the two are somehow related (though they sound similar).

      Finally, I'm not entirely certain which one would contain it (there are something like 65 episodes, each about an hour long) but there's a documentary series called "Secrets of War." It's not the greatest of series but it does have some unique and interesting points. I'm not positive but I think that one of their episodes about the Vietnam War contained a few blurbs about this program that the AC is referencing.

      I've not heard much about the program, only tidbits here and there, which is one of the reasons that I think that I'm probably not getting all the information. Most of the information that I'm able to recollect is presented and relayed by the NVA. In other words, not many people speak of and seem to know of this program. Thus, for once, I'm inclined to actually believe the AC is telling the truth or as much of the truth as they're allowed to tell.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  10. There are already groups doing this by Ceallach · · Score: 1

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Technical_Applications_Center knows how to get a LOT of data out of seismometer ...

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    -- More Smoke! The mirrors aren't working!!!