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Magnetotelluric and Very Low Frequency Signatures from Small High-Altitude Nuclear Explosions

Abstract

THIS communication presents a preliminary account of the magnetotelluric and very low frequency signatures associated with the U.S. high-altitude nuclear detonations of October 20 (0830 : 00 G.M.T.), October 26 (0959 : 49 G.M.T.), November 1 (1210 : 06 G.M.T.), and November 4 (0730 : 00 G.M.T.) 1962, observed at our field station near Rochester, New York. Three orthogonal components of dB/dt in the band 0.001 to 3 c/s were sensed with cored loop antennæ of sensitivity 0.07 mV-sec/γ. A pair of electrodes spaced 225 ft. apart sensed the north–south component of the telluric-current field in the same band. A whistler-recording apparatus furnished a broadband very low frequency noise record.

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SANTIROCCO, R., PARKER, D. Magnetotelluric and Very Low Frequency Signatures from Small High-Altitude Nuclear Explosions. Nature 199, 1273–1275 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1991273b0

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