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Atmospheric focusing
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<h2 id="types-of-atmospheric-focusing">Types of atmospheric focusing</h2> <h3>Supersonic booms</h3> <p>Atmospheric focusing from supersonic booms is a modern occurrence and a result of the actions of <a href="/facts/Air_force/M9LeqXoY">air forces</a> across the world.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> When objects like planes travel faster than the <a href="/facts/Speed_of_sound/dYtbt1nf">speed of sound</a>, they create sonic booms and pressure waves that can be focused.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Atmospheric factors present when these waves are created can focus the waves and cause damage.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>Planes can also create boom waves and explosion waves that can be focused.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> Consideration for atmospheric focusing in <a href="/facts/Flight_plan/bdCLn96H">flight plans</a> is critical. The <a href="/facts/Wind/Nt0QIu5B">wind</a> and <a href="/facts/Altitude/B5eNVurK">altitude</a> during a flight can create environments for atmospheric focusing, which can be determined through reference to a focusing curve.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> When this is the case, supersonic flight may cause damage on the ground.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h3>Meteor impacts</h3> <p>Meteors can also cause shock waves that can be focused.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> As the meteor enters Earth’s atmosphere and reaches lower altitudes, it can create a shock wave.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> The shock wave is impacted by what the meteor is made of, temperature, and pressure.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> Because the meteors need to have a large size and <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a>, there is only a small percentage of meteors that can create these shock waves.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Radar/jk9BTbFA">Radar</a> and <a href="/facts/Infrasound/yCUJSSe3">Infrasonic</a> methodologies are able to detect meteor shock waves. These tools are used to study these shock waves and can help create new methods of learning about meteor shock waves.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h3>Nuclear explosions and bombs</h3> <p>Nuclear explosions and bombs can also lead to atmospheric focusing. The effects of focusing may be found hundreds of kilometers from the blast site. An example of this is the case of the <a href="/facts/Tsar_Bomba/qbjpPwN2">Tsar Bomba</a> test, where damage was caused up to approximately 1,000 km away. Atmospheric focusing can increase the damage caused by these explosions.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Knudsen_number/rW2GxklD">Knudsen number</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Nuclear_weapons_testing/s2srGDFP">Nuclear weapons testing</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Rankine%25E2%2580%2593Hugoniot_conditions/AuIMQtsm">Rankine–Hugoniot conditions</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Silber, Elizabeth A.; Boslough, Mark; Hocking, Wayne K.; Gritsevich, Maria; Whitaker, Rodney W. (2018). "Physics of meteor generated shock waves in the Earth's atmosphere – A review". Advances in Space Research. 62 (3): 489–532. arXiv:1805.07842. Bibcode:2018AdSpR..62..489S. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010. ISSN 0273-1177. S2CID 119462641. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Silber, Elizabeth A.; Boslough, Mark; Hocking, Wayne K.; Gritsevich, Maria; Whitaker, Rodney W. (2018). "Physics of meteor generated shock waves in the Earth's atmosphere – A review". Advances in Space Research. 62 (3): 489–532. arXiv:1805.07842. Bibcode:2018AdSpR..62..489S. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010. ISSN 0273-1177. S2CID 119462641. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Reed, Jack W. (1962). "Atmospheric Focusing of Sonic Booms". Journal of Applied Meteorology. 1 (2): 265–267. Bibcode:1962JApMe...1..265R. doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1962)001<0265:AFOSB>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0021-8952. JSTOR 26169466. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1175%2F1520-0450%281962%29001%3C0265%3AAFOSB%3E2.0.CO%3B2</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Silber, Elizabeth A.; Boslough, Mark; Hocking, Wayne K.; Gritsevich, Maria; Whitaker, Rodney W. (2018). "Physics of meteor generated shock waves in the Earth's atmosphere – A review". Advances in Space Research. 62 (3): 489–532. arXiv:1805.07842. Bibcode:2018AdSpR..62..489S. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010. ISSN 0273-1177. S2CID 119462641. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Silber, Elizabeth A.; Boslough, Mark; Hocking, Wayne K.; Gritsevich, Maria; Whitaker, Rodney W. (2018). "Physics of meteor generated shock waves in the Earth's atmosphere – A review". Advances in Space Research. 62 (3): 489–532. arXiv:1805.07842. Bibcode:2018AdSpR..62..489S. doi:10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010. ISSN 0273-1177. S2CID 119462641. <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2018.05.010</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Tsar Bomba". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved 2021-11-02. <a href="https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/tsar-bomba" target="_blank">https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/tsar-bomba</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>