The paper presents an analysis by using the methods of Eddy field calculation mean and wavelet maxima to detect seismic anomalies within the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data based on time and space. The distinguishing feature of the method of Eddy field calculation mean is that we can calculate "the total sum of the difference value" of "the measured value" between adjacent points, which could highlight the singularity within data. The identified singularities are further validated by wavelet maxima, which using wavelet transformations as data mining tools by computing the maxima that can be used to identify obvious anomalies within OLR data. The two methods has been applied to carry out a comparative analysis of OLR data associated with the earthquake recently occurred in Haiti on 12 January 2010. Combining with the tectonic explanation of spatial and temporal continuity of the abnormal phenomena, the analyzed results have indicated a number of singularities associated with the possible seismic anomalies of the earthquake and from the comparative experiments and analyses by using the two methods, which follow the same time and space, we conclude that the singularities observed from 19 to 24 December 2009 could be the earthquake precursor of Haiti earthquake.
9 January 2013 in Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
Anomalies of multi-parameters (outgoing longwave radiation, surface latent heat flux, air temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure) before the 12 May 2008 Wenchuan Ms =8.0 earthquake were discussed in order to obtain the seismic precursors. Multi-parameter data were computed based on multi-year background data. The results indicated that these parameters had significant variations prior to this event. The anomaly of outgoing longwave radiation was observed firstly, which gives an early warning. Next were air temperature, relative humidity, and air pressure, which had quasi-simultaneous variations in the basin and the mountain region close to the epicenter. The last was surface latent heat flux, which happened the day before this event. The characteristics of the parameter variations for this event are similar to other earthquakes, which is demonstrated in some other publications. The variations can be attributed to solid earth degassing and chemical reactions in the atmosphere. Additionally, the emission of gases from solid earth into the atmosphere could be ascribed to the tectonic stress of the Wenchuan earthquake.
1 January 2019 in Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk
Multiple parameters (brightness temperature, soil moisture, surface latent heat flux, surface air temperature and carbon monoxide) before and after the 2015 Nepal M7.8 Gorkha main earthquake and M7.3 Dolakha aftershock were analysed using satellite observation data. The thermal anomalies from optical and microwave data appear about two months prior to the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Some of the parameters show anomalous changes at different altitudes about 20 days prior to the main earthquake event and 10 days prior to the strong aftershock. Our results show that pre-earthquake anomalous signals propagate from the in situ to the top of atmosphere, and the anomalies in the atmosphere often observed prior to an impending earthquake. The changes on the land surface and corresponding changes in meteorological and atmospheric parameters show existence of strong coupling during the seismogenic period, although the transfer mechanism of seismic/electromagnetic is still has to be investigated and understood.
Thermal variations in surface and atmosphere observed from multiple satellites prior to strong earthquakes have been widely reported ever since seismic thermal anomalies were discovered three decades ago. These thermal changes are related to stress accumulation caused by the tectonic activities in the final stage of earthquake preparation. In the present paper, we focused on the thermal changes associated with the 2021 Madoi M 7.3 earthquake in China and analyzed the temporal and spatial evolution of the Index of Microwave Radiation Anomaly (IMRA) and the Index of Longwave Radiation Anomaly (ILRA) based on 8-year microwave brightness temperature (MWBT) and 14-year outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) data collected by satellites. We also explored their responses in different tectonic units (seismogenic fault zone and active tectonic block). Our results indicated that the enhanced IMRA was distributed along the seismogenic fault since mid-February and reappeared for a longer time and with stronger intensity in March and April 2021. The pronounced enhancement in the ILRA was observed within one month over Bayan Har tectonic and adjacent blocks. The higher ILRA over the tectonic blocks in the southern Tibet Plateau at the beginning of 2021 could be associated with the regional stress accumulation, as proven by the occurrences of two moderate earthquakes during this period.
Passive microwave remote sensing technology is an effective means to identify the thermal anomalies associated with earthquakes due to its penetrating capability through clouds compared with infrared sensors. However, observed microwave brightness temperature is strongly influenced by soil moisture and other surface parameters. In the present article, the segmented threshold method has been proposed to detect anomalous microwave brightness temperature associated with the strong earthquakes occurred in Sichuan province, China, an earthquake-prone area with high soil moisture. The index of microwave radiation anomaly (IMRA) computed by the proposed method is found to enhance prior to the three strong earthquakes, 2008 Wenchuan (M = 7.8), 2013 Lushan (M = 6.6), and 2017 Jiuzhaigou (M = 6.5), occurred during 2008-2018 using the Defense Meteorological Space Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder F17 satellite data. Our results show that the microwave brightness temperature anomalies appeared about two months prior to the three strong earthquakes. For the Wenchuan and Lushan earthquakes, the enhanced IMRA distributed along the main fault, which is consistent with the variations of our earlier studies of the 1997 Manyi (M = 7.5) and the 2001 Kokoxili (M = 7.8) earthquakes in the region with low soil moisture. For the Jiuzhaigou earthquake, the anomalies distributed around the epicenter and do not indicate the seismogenic structure, which could be due to the presence of a blind fault. It should be noted that quantitative evaluation of IMRA is limited due to infrequent occurrence of earthquakes.