SMuK 2023 – scientific programme

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AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 4: Nuclear Weapons and the Atmosphere

AGA 4.2: Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2023, 14:45–15:05, HSZ/0002

Multi-technological analysis of the January 2022 Hunga Volcano explosive eruption from the perspective of CTBT monitoring — •Jens Ole Ross, Patrick Hupe, Andreas Steinberg, Stefanie Donner, Peter Gaebler, Johanna Lehr, Christoph Pilger, Thomas Plenefisch, and Lars Ceranna — Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe, BGR, B4.3 Erdbebendienst des Bundes / Kernwaffenteststopp, Hannover

For the detection of potential non-compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the International Monitoring System (IMS) with 321 stations is nearly complete.

The huge explosive eruption of the Hunga Volcano (Tonga) on 15th January 2022 and its global observations were record-breaking in many aspects. All IMS infrasound stations measured the atmospheric Lamb wave and the following infrasound generated by the main eruption, which circumnavigated the globe several times. We also analysed the seismic and hydroacoustic signatures of the event series to characterize source processes and focused on methods for discriminating between earthquakes and explosions as demanded in the CTBT context. Atmospheric Transport Modelling assessed the sensitivity to the eruption for nearby radionuclide stations to estimate the detectability of hypothetical radionuclide releases in a fictitious nuclear explosion scenario.

The results show again the readiness of the CTBT-IMS and strengthen the value of the IMS data for scientific and civilian applications.