Validating infrasound sensor performance: Requirements, specifications, and calibration

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2012-09, Vol.132 (3_Supplement), p.2048-2048
• Main Authors: Hart, Darren M., Whitaker, Rod, Parks, Harold
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4755531

The Ground-Based Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Research and Development (GNEM R&D) program at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is regarded as a primary center for unbiased expertise in testing and evaluation of geophysical sensors and instrumentation for nuclear explosion monitoring. In the area of Infrasound sensor evaluation, Sandia relies on the “comparison calibration” technique to derive the characteristics of a new sensor under evaluation relative to a standard reference infrasound sensor. The traceability of our technique to a primary standard is partially dependent on the infrasound calibration chamber operated by a similar program group at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Previous work by LANL and the SNL Primary Standards Laboratory was able to determine the LANL chamber pistonphone output pressure level to within 5% uncertainty including dimensional measurements and careful analysis of the error budget. Over the past several years, the staff at LANL and the SNL Facility for Acceptance, Calibration and Testing (FACT) site has been developing a methodology for the systematic evaluation of infrasound sensors. That evaluation involves making a set of measurements that follow a prescribed set of procedures, allowing traceability to a primary standard for amplitude. Examples of evaluation tests will be shown for monitoring quality infrasound sensors.