é
i that such signals are attenuated, but not to the extent that prior
theoretical calculations had predicted.
Program C: Airborne Measurements of Thermal and Electromagnetic
Phenomena
There were six projects in Program C: four investigating thermal
phenomena (Projects 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5) and two studying electromagnetic
effects (Projects 6.10 and 6.13). Six aircraft were used, three equipped with
thermal instrumentation and three with electromagnetic equipment.
ects were successful on both shots.
For shot Teak there was a single thermal pulse lasting
All proj-
Most of this energy came from molecular emission bands rather
than from the blackbody radiation common to surface or near-surface bursts.
The infrared radiation was intense but brief--about
maximum radius of the infrared fireball was almost
in duration. The
The thermal
pulse from shot Orange showed some of the characteristics of a sea-level
shot. There was some evidence of a minimum and a second maximum. Some
of the energy was radiated in a continuous spectrum, in addition to spectral
bands similar to those from Teak. The infrared emission lasted about
and the infrared fireball radius reached a maximum of about
craft.
Radar echoes from the ionized cloud were received by two of the air-
Returns were observed on UHF band radars for a period of about an
hour for both Teak and Orange.
One
measured
found that
cess of 4
2.2
‘
of the aircraft also carried atmospheric sounding equipment and
disturbances of the ionosphere produced during both shots. It was
the electrical properties of the ionosphere were disturbed in exhr out to distances of several hundred miles.
TASK UNIT 1, LASL PROGRAMS
Task Unit 1 carried out experiments to determine device performance,
to measure physical quantities of interest in weapon design, and to understand the mechanisms by which the various effects of the devices are produced. In Operation Hardtack new methods were used to determine the configuration of the active material during the reaction period.
Programs 10 and 18, Fireball Physics and Thermal Radiation
The objectives of these programs were: (1) to determine the yields of
the devices by observation of the various parameters associated with fireball
hydrodynamics; (2) to measure the time interval between primary and secondary reactions in two-stage devices by optical means; (3) to study the
phenomena taking place in the rarified air on two high altitude shots of about
‘yield; and (4) to measure total thermal radiation and thermal power on
we wo very high altitude detonations.
Oscilloscopes and photomultipliers with optical narrow pass filters were
used to record gamma-induced light from the air about two-stage devices.
Photomultipliers and oscilloscopes with high time resolution were used for
observations of narrow bands of the optical spectrum.
43