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Assessment and Mitigation of Asteroid Impact Hazards pp 199–218Cite as

Natural Hazard Associated to Shock Waves of Meter-Sized Meteoroids

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Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP,volume 46))

Abstract

The Earth’s atmosphere is a good barrier for protecting the Earth from meter-sized interplanetary projectiles but it is not fullproof. Large meteoroids or small asteroids under certain entry geometries and slow geocentric velocities, can penetrate deep into the atmosphere, and become a source of hazard to humans. The energy deposited in the atmosphere causes these bodies to ablate and the hazard can take several forms: sonic booms, airbursts, hot plasma or even crater excavation. By understanding these sources of hazards, strategies can be produced to mitigate their effects. The historic records of such unusual events are highly biased because our ancestors were probably unable to identify and classify many of them. An example is the airburst that occurred on June 30, 1908 over the Tunguska region of Siberia where several hypotheses were proposed to explain it. The recent Chelyabinsk meteorite fall, renewed our interest in the problem. This work introduces the physics and describes the main mechanisms adopted by this. It is concluded that an early detection system, capable of identifying the main sources of contemporary hazard, is needed together with planning general scenarios and safety actions.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by AYA2015-67175-P (PI. JMTR). We thank to the Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya for providing waveform data to this study. We thank E. Silber for her useful review and suggestions that helps to improve this manuscript. We also thank Prof. Iwan P. Williams for his careful English revision of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratori d’Estudis Geofísics Eduard Fontserè, Institut d’Estudis Catalans (LEGEF-IEC), C/Carme 47, Barcelona, 08001, Spain

    Mar Tapia

  2. Meteorites, Minor Bodies and Planetary Sciences Group, Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC), Campus UAB, c/Can Magrans s/n, 08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), Catalonia, Spain

    Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez

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  1. Mar Tapia
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  2. Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to Mar Tapia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Campus UAB, 2a planta, Institute of Space Sciences, Bellaterra Barcelona, Spain

    Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez

  2. Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Maria Gritsevich

  3. Sektion Meteoritenforschung, Senckenberg, Naturmuseum und Forschungsinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany

    Herbert Palme

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Tapia, M., Trigo-Rodríguez, J.M. (2017). Natural Hazard Associated to Shock Waves of Meter-Sized Meteoroids. In: Trigo-Rodríguez, J., Gritsevich, M., Palme, H. (eds) Assessment and Mitigation of Asteroid Impact Hazards. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 46. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46179-3_10

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