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Coupled Seismic and Acoustic Waves Generated by Satellite Starlink-2382’s Reentry

Description: 

On August 27th, 2024, at approximately 19:30 UTC, the Starlink-2382 satellite entered the Earth's atmosphere following a controlled de-orbit maneuver over Central Europe. This resulted in a relatively shallow entry of the satellite into the atmosphere, which was intended to provide sufficient time for the satellite to fully burn up before reaching the Earth's surface. This study employs seismo-acoustic data to analyze the trajectory of Starlink-2382's de-orbit, utilizing 3D atmosphere models including wind and acoustic ray tracing methods. To identify signals produced by the falling satellite, we utilize seismo-acoustic recordings of Austrian, French, German, and Swiss regional networks that are provided in an openly accessible format. Utilizing these identified signals, we have preliminarily characterized the satellite's trajectory, determining an azimuth of 53.5° from north and an initial zenith angle of 89.9°, with an entry velocity of approximately 28 km/s from the satellite’s telemetry data. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the seismo-acoustic method for determining the trajectories of supersonic objects traversing the Earth's atmosphere, and their deceleration within it. Our findings indicate that this approach offers greater accuracy than optical trajectory derivation methods in this specific context. Utilizing these parameters, we calculate the ablation coefficient to be 3.5e-8 s²m^-2, which is necessary for the 260 kg satellite to fully burn up in the Earth's atmosphere during its descent. We compare these results to data from previous meteoroid falls and discuss the implications of our findings. Furthermore, we analyze the acoustic-to-seismic ground coupling efficiency for this event and characterize the measured amplitudes at the seismo-acoustic recording stations used to derive preliminary ground coupling coefficients. Knowledge about the acoustic-to-seismic ground coupling coefficients allows the estimation of future satellite or meteoroid fall masses using seismo-acoustic data alone.

Session: Data-driven and Computational Characterization of Non-earthquake Seismoacoustic Sources - I

Type: Oral

Date: 4/16/2025

Presentation Time: 02:15 PM (local time)

Presenting Author: Dario

Student Presenter: Yes

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