Planetary Acoustics: A new tool to investigate surface-atmosphere interactions

Baptiste Chide – IRAP

On Earth, quantitative analysis of acoustic waves is often used to characterize atmospheric environment. Most notable applications are (i) to characterize various phenomena that are sources of sounds: lightning, atmospheric and fluid circulations, aeroacoustic interactions, etc… (ii) to study the acoustic properties of the propagation medium, the atmosphere itself: speed of sound, attenuation with distance, and (iii) to infer characteristics of the atmosphere dynamics: wind, turbulence, temperature gradients. Although the Solar System is mostly a quiet place, bodies like the Earth, Venus, Mars and Titan harbor atmospheres that are dense enough for acoustic waves to propagate in the audible range. Hence, acoustics is used a new tool in planetary science to understand surface/atmosphere interactions in situ. This presentation will review the results of the 30-hour playlist of Martian sounds recorded by the SuperCam microphone onboard the Perseverance rover and the plans to capture the Titan soundscape with the Dragonfly mission.