(meteorobs) re: San Francisco Bay Area Fireball and Electophonic sound.

[drobnock]

First I apologize to Larry for the following criticism.

The system that is proposed to detect electrophonic sound, a product of
very low frequency electromagnetic radiation (vlf signatures) causing a
near by object to vibrate and reproduce sound, should, in theory,  not
be affected by clouds and by it's design -- electrometer -- be akin to
the observers of radio meteors.

Once in operation,  the system should detect any electromagnetic vlf
signature or in this case,  change in electrical field surrounding the
receiving equipment.

During the 4 years of  Leonid watch, 1999 to 2001,   reports were made
indicating that during the maximum of the storm, there was a change in
the electrical characteristics of the sky. (see works of Colin Price and
Moshe Blum 2001, R. Trautner 2001 etall  and others or google vlf
signatures meteor).

The detection system that Larry has constructed can operate 24 hours a
day. As his interest is in fireballs, coordinating his recordings  with
reported observations from either AMS or NAMN,  in his region of
California,  should be valuable in seeing if fireballs are capable of
producing an electrical signature every time they enter the atmosphere.
The matter of cloud cover in this case should not be an issue unless
there is a concern with lightning..

I can assume that there have been individuals who, during an over cast
sky,  have heard a sonic boom from a meteor or the errie buzz of an
unseen fireball. On the other hand those who conduct scatter
observations are not affected by clouds either.

Good luck  Larry

George John Drobnock