Period-Inverted Blast-Radius Normalization for a Non-Ablating Hypersonic Reentry Source Using OSIRIS-REx Capsule Infrasound
Abstract
Cylindrical blast wave theory relates infrasound from hypersonic sources to energy deposition through a characteristic blast radius R_0, yet the normalization constant k in the scaling R_0 = k (E_0/p_0)^(1/2) differs by up to 40% across the formulations examined here. This uncertainty affects period-based source characterization for elevated atmospheric sources relevant to infrasound monitoring. Using infrasound from the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule reentry on 24 September 2023, observed periods at 39 stations spanning source altitudes of 44-62 km are inverted through a weak-shock propagation model to obtain period-inverted blast radii R_0,obs without prescribing a blast-wave normalization. Combining R_0,obs with aerodynamic drag energy yields a median k = 0.396, with a modified-bootstrap 95% interval of 0.378-0.474 when the reported period-measurement uncertainties are included. This result is consistent with the Sakurai (1965) and Jones et al. (1968)/Plooster (1970) normalizations, while Few (1969) lies outside the reference confidence interval. However, station-level k values exhibit significant along-trajectory structure (Spearman r_s = -0.84, p < 0.001), indicating that k_med is an ensemble-effective normalization rather than a station-invariant constant. The Mach-diameter approximation R_0 ~ M d_m overestimates R_0 by a factor of ~3.4 for this effectively non-ablating source. A period-based relation, R_0 = 23.99 tau - 0.73 (R^2 = 0.991, MAPE = 2.3%), provides a rapid blast-radius estimator whose residuals show no detectable altitude dependence. These results provide inverse calibration constraints and practical period-based source-characterization relations for OSIRIS-REx-like non-ablating hypersonic entries, while highlighting the need for multi-event validation before broader application.
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BibTeX
@misc{silber2026periodinverted,
title = {{Period-Inverted Blast-Radius Normalization for a Non-Ablating Hypersonic Reentry Source Using OSIRIS-REx Capsule Infrasound}},
author = {Elizabeth A. Silber},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.19141},
eprint = {2609.19141},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19141},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Period-Inverted Blast-Radius Normalization for a Non-Ablating Hypersonic Reentry Source Using OSIRIS-REx Capsule Infrasound
AU - Elizabeth A. Silber
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.19141
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.19141
AB - Cylindrical blast wave theory relates infrasound from hypersonic sources to energy deposition through a characteristic blast radius R_0, yet the normalization constant k in the scaling R_0 = k (E_0/p_0)^(1/2) differs by up to 40% across the formulations examined here. This uncertainty affects period-based source characterization for elevated atmospheric sources relevant to infrasound monitoring. Using infrasound from the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule reentry on 24 September 2023, observed periods at 39 stations spanning source altitudes of 44-62 km are inverted through a weak-shock propagation model to obtain period-inverted blast radii R_0,obs without prescribing a blast-wave normalization. Combining R_0,obs with aerodynamic drag energy yields a median k = 0.396, with a modified-bootstrap 95% interval of 0.378-0.474 when the reported period-measurement uncertainties are included. This result is consistent with the Sakurai (1965) and Jones et al. (1968)/Plooster (1970) normalizations, while Few (1969) lies outside the reference confidence interval. However, station-level k values exhibit significant along-trajectory structure (Spearman r_s = -0.84, p < 0.001), indicating that k_med is an ensemble-effective normalization rather than a station-invariant constant. The Mach-diameter approximation R_0 ~ M d_m overestimates R_0 by a factor of ~3.4 for this effectively non-ablating source. A period-based relation, R_0 = 23.99 tau - 0.73 (R^2 = 0.991, MAPE = 2.3%), provides a rapid blast-radius estimator whose residuals show no detectable altitude dependence. These results provide inverse calibration constraints and practical period-based source-characterization relations for OSIRIS-REx-like non-ablating hypersonic entries, while highlighting the need for multi-event validation before broader application.
ER -