Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes
Two classes of natural solid media (glacial ice and salt domes) are under consideration as media in which to deploy instruments for detection of neutrinos with energy >1e18 eV. Though insensitive to 1e11 to 1e16 eV neutrinos for which observatories (e.g., AMANDA and IceCube) that utilize optical...
Published in: | Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003903 http://cds.cern.ch/record/846586 |
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ftcern:oai:cds.cern.ch:846586 2023-05-15T18:22:58+02:00 Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes Price, P B 2005-06-27 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003903 http://cds.cern.ch/record/846586 eng eng doi:10.1029/2005JB003903 http://cds.cern.ch/record/846586 astro-ph/0506648 oai:cds.cern.ch:846586 Astrophysics and Astronomy 2005 ftcern https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003903 2018-07-28T07:30:32Z Two classes of natural solid media (glacial ice and salt domes) are under consideration as media in which to deploy instruments for detection of neutrinos with energy >1e18 eV. Though insensitive to 1e11 to 1e16 eV neutrinos for which observatories (e.g., AMANDA and IceCube) that utilize optical Cherenkov radiation detectors are designed, radio and acoustic methods are suited for searches for the very low fluxes of neutrinos with energies >1017 eV. This is because, due to the very long attenuation lengths of radio and acoustic waves in ice and salt, detection modules can be spaced very far apart. In this paper, I calculate the absorption and scattering coefficients as a function of frequency and grain size for acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes and show that experimental measurements on laboratory samples and in glacial ice and salt domes are consistent with theory. For South Pole ice with grain size 0.2 cm at -51 degrees C, scattering lengths are calculated to be 2000 km and 25 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz, respectively, and the absorption length is calculated to be 9 km at frequencies above 100 Hz. For NaCl (rock salt) with grain size 0.75 cm, scattering lengths are calculated to be 120 km and 1.4 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz, and absorption lengths are calculated to be 30,000 km and 3300 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz. Existing measurements are consistent with theory. For ice, absorption is the limiting factor; for salt, scattering is the limiting factor. Other/Unknown Material South pole CERN Document Server (CDS) South Pole Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 111 B2 n/a n/a |
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Astrophysics and Astronomy |
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Astrophysics and Astronomy Price, P B Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
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Astrophysics and Astronomy |
description |
Two classes of natural solid media (glacial ice and salt domes) are under consideration as media in which to deploy instruments for detection of neutrinos with energy >1e18 eV. Though insensitive to 1e11 to 1e16 eV neutrinos for which observatories (e.g., AMANDA and IceCube) that utilize optical Cherenkov radiation detectors are designed, radio and acoustic methods are suited for searches for the very low fluxes of neutrinos with energies >1017 eV. This is because, due to the very long attenuation lengths of radio and acoustic waves in ice and salt, detection modules can be spaced very far apart. In this paper, I calculate the absorption and scattering coefficients as a function of frequency and grain size for acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes and show that experimental measurements on laboratory samples and in glacial ice and salt domes are consistent with theory. For South Pole ice with grain size 0.2 cm at -51 degrees C, scattering lengths are calculated to be 2000 km and 25 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz, respectively, and the absorption length is calculated to be 9 km at frequencies above 100 Hz. For NaCl (rock salt) with grain size 0.75 cm, scattering lengths are calculated to be 120 km and 1.4 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz, and absorption lengths are calculated to be 30,000 km and 3300 km at 10 kHz and 30 kHz. Existing measurements are consistent with theory. For ice, absorption is the limiting factor; for salt, scattering is the limiting factor. |
author |
Price, P B |
author_facet |
Price, P B |
author_sort |
Price, P B |
title |
Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
title_short |
Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
title_full |
Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
title_fullStr |
Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
title_full_unstemmed |
Attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
title_sort |
attenuation of acoustic waves in glacial ice and salt domes |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003903 http://cds.cern.ch/record/846586 |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
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South pole |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2005JB003903 http://cds.cern.ch/record/846586 astro-ph/0506648 oai:cds.cern.ch:846586 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JB003903 |
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Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth |
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111 |
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B2 |
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1766202383504769024 |