(C)
A High Altitude Wind Observation From
Nuclear Explosion ''Teak”
J. W. Reed
Sandia Laboratory
An article by Church’
1
speculates on circulation speeds at 660 km altitude caused by diurnal density
fluctuations reported by Priester, et al. 2 from satellite orbital data.
There is some observational evidence,
not previously publicized, for these extreme speeds.
At the high-altitude nuclear burst (Teak) experiment above Johnston Island, 1 August 1958, a cloud observation was made which seems to imply fantastic horizontal cloud motion and altitude.
graphic or optical measurements of Teak phenomena were made.
the cloud motion interpretation.
Few systematic photo-
Electronic measurements did not support
Now, however, with several bits of rough data assembled, a reasonable
assertion can be made.
From the U.S.S. Boxer, about 90 km northeast of Johnston Island, the familiar toroidal atomic cloud
from Teak appeared to rise rapidly from the burst vicinity, separating from the feathery glowing region which
was photographed for several minutes from Hawaii by Steiger and Matsushita. 8 After a few minutes, only
fragments of this high debris cloud could be discerned.
At H + 20 minutes, during observation of the auroral
phenomena produced by the shot, a wisp of white cirrus was noted about 20 degrees above the northern horizon,
and just to the right of the auroral belt which extended out of sight into the north.
grew and soon came to appear as remains of the Teak cloud.
the toroidal shape.
again.
This first wisp gradually
Toa vivid imagination it still seemed to retain
Thus, the debris cloud must have risen and drifted north into the sunlight to become visible
Rough calculations showed that sunlighting on this bearing would have occurred 1500 miles away from
surface zero at hundreds of miles altitude in 20 minutes,
The subject was dropped.
With reports of radical diurnal density and allied circulation patterns at high altitudes, it is reasonable
to attempt more accurate calculations.
There are still no direct measurements, but a combination of subjec-
tive arguments shows that a large error in the conclusion is unlikely.
A Teak configuration was sketched by H. E. Bell of Sandia Laboratory as he viewed it from French
Frigate Shoals.
Pertinent portions of his view at H+ 2 minutes are shown in Figure 1.
An approximate scale
for his sketch was obtained from the red sphere diameter at H + 2 minutes as photographed by Hawaii-based
cameras,
His line of sight on the auroral base is established by construction in Figure 2, since the belt was
directed toward magnetic north, 14 degrees east of true north,
the inclination of the belt.
Local magnetic dip, 25 degrees’, establishes
From the Boxer, azimuth of the belt segment, 20 degrees above horizontal, is
triangulated in Figure 3 to give cirrus cloud bearing 2 degrees east of north.
If any of the observations are
varied by as much as 10 degrees, the resultant cloud bearing is changed a comparably small amount.
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