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Dominant source regions of the Earth's “hum” are coastal
Author(s) -
Bromirski Peter D.,
Gerstoft Peter
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2009gl038903
Subject(s) - hum , geology , infragravity wave , swell , oceanography , storm , seismology , climatology , meteorology , geography , wave propagation , physics , performance art , art history , art , mechanical wave , longitudinal wave , quantum mechanics
Hum beam power observations using the USArray EarthScope transportable array, combined with infragravity wave observations, show that the dominant source area of the Earth's hum over the 120–400 s period band during winter months is the Pacific coast of North America, with the western coast of Europe a secondary source region. Correlation of hum with model ocean wave heights indicates that the Pacific coast of Central America is an important hum source region when impacted by austral storm waves. Hum is excited by relatively local infragravity wave forcing as ocean swell propagates along coasts, with no indication of significant deep‐ocean hum generation.