Abstract:

The earth's surface is covered by atmosphere, and energy coupling occurs between atmosphere and lithosphere. Various sources in the atmosphere generate waves that may transfer energy to induce wave energy in the solid Earth from which quantification of Earth subsurface structures are possible. 

In this talk, I’ll show some ‘accidental’ observations of these sources during storms from underground-based vibration sensors. The sensor is made of an interrogator connected with the existing underground fiber-optic cables. I’ll discuss the current understanding of the energy transfer from thunderstorm to the ground – namely thunderquake. I will answer a few interesting questions: are thunderquakes physically induced by thunder (acoustic) or lightning (electric)? Can thunderquake serve as a seismic source for Earth tomography? Thunder-induced quake sources detected by widespread fiber networks could be an important seismic source for developing shallow subsurface seismic velocity models in the Eastern US with little earthquake seismicity.