Lanterna Rally

Author: Stanford University. Stanford Electronics Laboratories

Publisher:

Published: 1965

Total Pages: 118

ISBN-13:

The purpose of this research was to obtain a panoramic view of acoustic-gravity-wave motions throughout the atmosphere. A one-dimensional array of particles and springs, conceived by Newton to study sound waves in the atmosphere, was extended to two dimensions by means of 1500 particles interconnected by springs. Variations of density and pressure with altitude are represented by variations in mass and spring constants. This new model has provided means by which acoustic-gravity-wave motions in the atmosphere are solved on a high-speed digital computer, and a new animated-computer-output technique is used. A motion picture--automatically plotted by the computer, a frame at a time--provides greater detail and perspective of mechanical wave motions in the atmosphere than has ever been obtainable before. Ground-level and 100-km-high explosions were investigated with this computer model, and the resulting transient motions of the atmosphere were displayed by means of a motion picture produced by digital techniques. Computed ground-level barograms resulting from a ground-level explosion compare well with experimental barograms recorded during ground-level nuclear explosions. (Author).