3 ms·
How do they estimate megaton equivalent? Just evaluating damage can known soil material?
by antishatter 5y ago
How do they estimate megaton equivalent? Just evaluating damage can known soil material?
- oliveshell 5y agoGood question— I assume global seismometer networks can give us a pretty good idea.
- antishatter 5y agoI think you are on to something in addition to the satellite image answer above. The below answer “volume displaced” seems rather pie in the sky.
- pvg 5y agoOne obvious-ish lower bound estimate would be an estimate of the energy required to pulverize a Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai-sized rock into a troposphere-height cloud. Edit: It's not any kind of estimate but the before and after pictures of the first thermonuclear weapon test site look quite a bit like the images from Tonga: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Mike#Detonation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Mike#Detonation That was coincidentally (and somewhat accidentally), a 10 megaton explosion.
- ezconnect 5y agoEstimate the amount of energy to move the volume of materials not there anymore.