Geolocating sources of acoustic signals with a balloon-borne aeroseismometer

A method performed by a computing system of an aeroseismometer mounted to an airborne balloon, the method comprising:

• receiving a first signal from an acoustic sensor coupled to the airborne balloon, the first signal representing an infrasonic signal that has been detected by the acoustic sensor;
• receiving a second signal from an inertial measurement unit coupled to the airborne balloon, the second signal representing vibration of the airborne balloon, wherein the second signal comprises information that is indicative of an orientation of the vibration of the airborne balloon;
• and
• based upon the first signal and the second signal, computing a direction of arrival of the infrasonic signal relative to the airborne balloon, wherein a source of the infrasonic signal lies upon the travel path of the infrasonic signal.

An aeroseismometer coupled to an airborne balloon, the aeroseismometer comprising:

• an acoustic sensor that is configured to generate a first signal, the first signal being representative of an infrasonic signal that is incident upon the airborne balloon;
• an inertial measurement unit that is configured to generate a second signal, the second signal being representative of a vibration of the airborne balloon caused by the infrasonic signal being incident upon the airborne balloon, wherein the second signal comprises information that is indicative of an orientation of the vibration in a reference frame of the aeroseismometer;
• and
• a computing device that is configured to identify a travel path of the infrasonic signal relative to the aeroseismometer, wherein the travel path is computed by the computing device based upon the first signal and the second signal, and further wherein the computed travel path of the infrasonic signal corresponds to the orientation of the vibration in the reference frame.