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Sandia National Laboratories — Balloon-Borne Aeroseismometer

Last updated: 2026-04-07 (Session 82)

Summary

Sandia National Laboratories used FO to validate a balloon-borne aeroseismometer — a system that uses infrasound sensors + accelerometers on stratospheric balloons to perform seismology without ground stations. The technology is a leading candidate for Venus seismology, where the 460 C surface prevents conventional seismometers from surviving long enough for useful data.

Archetype: 6 (FFRDC Data Gap Closure) — but with an unusually clear future-mission pull (Venus)

FO Project

Field Value
Project 106697
Title Flight Test of a Balloon-borne Aeroseismometer
PI Daniel C. Bowman (Sandia)
Co-Is Attila Komjathy (JPL), Siddharth Krishnamoorthy (JPL), Eliot F. Young (SwRI), Michael T. Pauken (JPL)
Period 2019-11 to 2020-12
TRL 4 → 6
Status Completed
Views 803
Partners Sandia (lead), JPL (co-I), SwRI-Boulder (co-I)

What was tested: Two infrasound/accelerometer packages on World View Stratollite balloons + two Cyclone Balloon Systems from Raven Aerostar, directed to the vicinity of ground explosions. The key innovation: the balloon itself acts as a pendulum seismometer — acoustic waves set the entire flight system in motion, and accelerometers capture the direction of arrival. This converts scalar pressure measurements into vector seismic data.

Upstream Lineage

  • The concept emerged from a serendipitous measurement on the 2016 High Altitude Student Platform (HASP) — a coupled infrasound/accelerometer showed the balloon moving in response to small acoustic waves
  • Pre-FO work: Bowman and Krishnamoorthy had been developing balloon infrasound for Venus applications since ~2018 (OSTI reports from Sandia)
  • Soviet VEGA missions (1985) demonstrated balloons at Venus at 50-60 km altitude — the pressure/temperature sweet spot where electronics survive

Downstream Impact

Publications (7+ papers)

  1. JASA Express Letters 2022 (DOI: 10.1121/10.0011192): "Infrasound direction of arrival determination using a balloon-borne aeroseismometer" — first peer-reviewed demonstration of the concept
  2. GRL 2023 (Krishnamoorthy et al.): "A 'Floatilla' of Airborne Seismometers for Venus" — proposed network of Venus balloon seismometers
  3. Remote Sensing 2023: Large Surface Explosion Coupling Experiment (Nevada, October 2020, balloons at 170-210 km range) — predecessor to 2024 campaigns
  4. Earth, Planets and Space, June 2024: "Forward modeling of quake's infrasound recorded in the stratosphere on board balloon platforms" — uses Stratéole-2 balloon data from two earthquakes; demonstrates sensitivity of balloon pressure records to seismic source and internal structure parameters
  5. Nature Communications Earth & Environment 2025 (Froment et al.): "Balloon seismology enables subsurface inversion without ground stations" — demonstrated joint inversion of earthquake location + subsurface velocity from balloon observations using Bayesian MCMC, validated against ground-based results. Bowman acknowledged as peer reviewer
  6. Additional OSTI conference papers: "Advances towards balloon-based seismology on Venus" (2019), "Progress towards balloon-based seismology on Venus" (2019)
  7. Caltech/JPL publication: "Aerial Seismology Using Balloon-Based Barometers" (Krishnamoorthy et al.)
  8. Bowman Oct 2025: "Cyclic Background Noise Variations on Infrasound Microbarometers From Micrometeorology and Human Activity"
  9. Bowman Dec 2025: "Solar Balloons" chapter
  10. Silber & Bowman, Seismological Research Letters 2025: "Along-Trajectory Acoustic Signal Variations Observed During the Hypersonic Re-Entry of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule" — 39 single-sensor stations across NV/UT captured infrasound from the Sep 24, 2023 hypersonic re-entry. Part of a SRL Focus Section on OSIRIS-REx re-entry geophysics. Demonstrates Bowman's dense-network infrasound methodology applied to a controlled hypersonic source.
  11. Bowman et al., ESS Open Archive, Feb 2026: "Observational Evidence for Wind-Driven Low-Pass Filtering of Infrasound at Short Range" — Key paper from the AtmoSense 2024 campaigns. Two 10-ton TNT-equivalent explosions (May 8 and Oct 16, 2024) at EMRTC, Socorro NM, recorded by 31 single-sensor stations within 23 km. First direct observational evidence that tropospheric winds impose azimuth-dependent low-pass filtering at local ranges. October signals showed unimodal period-distance trend; May signals showed pronounced azimuthal bifurcation in period and celerity.

Active Research Program

  • May and October 2024 AtmoSense campaigns: Dense network of 31 single-sensor stations + balloon platforms recorded 10-ton TNT-equivalent explosions at EMRTC, Socorro NM. Results now published (Bowman et al., ESS Open Archive Feb 2026) — first evidence of wind-driven azimuth-dependent low-pass filtering at local ranges. Full dataset (acoustic + radiosonde) published on Zenodo. These campaigns represent the most comprehensive controlled-source balloon infrasound dataset ever collected.
  • Bowman confirmed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA — Geophysicist/Earth Scientist in Energy and Environment Directorate. PNNL is a DOE lab, implying DOE/NNSA-adjacent funding. Highly productive at PNNL — 3+ new publications in 2025-2026 (OSIRIS-REx SRC, AtmoSense, background noise).
  • Krishnamoorthy at JPL continues Venus balloon concept development — co-authored EPSC-DPS 2025 abstract (Helsinki, Sep 2025) on "Aerial and Surface Mobility at Venus Enabled by Aerobots" with Byrne, Cutts, Izraelevitz, Baines, Hall, Dorsky

JPL Venus Aerobot Progress

  • JPL's variable-altitude Venus aerobot prototype (balloon-within-a-balloon, altitude-controlled by helium venting/pumping) completed test flights
  • Published in Journal of Aircraft 2024/2025: "Flight Demonstration and Model Validation of a Prototype Variable-Altitude Venus Aerobot"
  • This is the balloon platform that would carry seismometers — the aerobot and aeroseismometer are converging toward a combined system

Venus Mission Relevance — Updated

  • VERITAS: Launch target now 2031 (delayed from 2028-2030). Trump FY2026 budget proposed cancellation; Congress rejected cuts in Jan 2026 appropriations, funding restored but "ramping up slowly." FY2027 budget proposes another 47% science cut — outcome uncertain
  • DAVINCI+: FY2026 appropriations provided $99M to continue. Also on Trump FY2027 proposed-cut list. Launch early 2030s (orbiter + descent probe)
  • ESA EnVision: Budget cuts may force NASA to withdraw SAR instrument contribution
  • VALENTInE concept: New Frontiers-class Venus balloon mission concept, baseline 2032 launch, 15-day mission at 45-55 km altitude — includes seismology, atmospheric chemistry, and surface mapping
  • LPSC 2026: Abstract on "Science Opportunities for Long-Lived Venus Aerial Robotic Platforms" confirms ongoing concept work
  • Balloon seismology is positioned as a complementary or follow-on technique — not on VERITAS/DAVINCI+ directly, but builds the case for a future Venus atmospheric mission (e.g., VALENTInE)
  • Acoustic coupling of quakes to atmosphere is calculated to be 60x stronger on Venus than Earth — the technique may work better on Venus than on Earth

Other Applications

  • Terrestrial infrasound monitoring (explosions, severe storms, clear air turbulence)
  • Bolide detection from stratosphere
  • CTBT verification alternative
  • DOE/NNSA interest implied by Bowman's move to PNNL — possible nuclear test monitoring applications

Key Insight

This is a rare FO project where a TRL 4→6 result on Earth directly enables a planetary mission concept. The FO flight validated that balloon-borne seismology works in practice — the 2024 campaigns and 2025 Nature paper took it to field-validated. The Venus application gives this technology a uniquely long time horizon but extremely high impact ceiling.

The cross-institutional team (Sandia FFRDC + JPL FFRDC + SwRI non-profit) is also notable — three independent research organizations collaborating through FO, with each bringing different capabilities (Sandia: infrasound expertise, JPL: planetary instrument development, SwRI: balloon/solar pointing systems, World View: balloon operations).

Confidence

Claim Confidence Evidence
FO validated balloon aeroseismometer concept Confirmed TechPort [106697], TRL 4→6
11+ peer-reviewed publications from this work Confirmed JASA, GRL, Nature Comms Earth & Env, SRL, ESS Open Archive, OSTI records
Venus mission relevance Suggestive Papers explicitly target Venus; VERITAS delayed to 2031; VALENTInE concept emerging; balloon mission not yet commissioned
Nature Comms 2025 paper demonstrates subsurface inversion from balloon data Confirmed DOI 10.1038/s43247-025-02917-7
Bowman moved Sandia → PNNL Confirmed PNNL staff page, Geophysicist in Energy & Environment Directorate
AtmoSense 2024 campaigns published (Feb 2026) Confirmed ESS Open Archive preprint, Zenodo dataset
OSIRIS-REx SRC infrasound paper (2025) Confirmed Seismological Research Letters, SRL Focus Section
JPL Venus aerobot prototype flight-tested Confirmed Journal of Aircraft 2024/2025
VERITAS delayed to 2031 Confirmed SpaceNews, Congressional appropriations
DAVINCI+ funded $99M FY2026 Confirmed FY2026 appropriations bill

Cross-References

  • SwRI cluster — Eliot Young (SwRI) is co-I on this project; same SwRI group doing balloon science
  • World View Enterprises — Stratollite platform was used for balloon flights
  • Cryogenic cluster — JPL co-Is (Komjathy, Pauken) also work on other FO-adjacent planetary tech