Extreme temperature and pressure conditions on the surface of Venus present formidable technological challenges against performing ground‐based seismology. Efficient coupling between the Venusian atmosphere and the solid planet theoretically allows the study of seismically generated acoustic waves using balloons in the upper atmosphere, where conditions are far more clement. However, earthquake detection from a balloon has never been demonstrated. We present the first detection of an earthquake from a balloon‐borne microbarometer near Ridgecrest, CA in July 2019 and include a detailed analysis of the dependence of seismic infrasound, as measured from a balloon on earthquake source parameters, topography, and crustal and atmospheric structure. Our comprehensive analysis of seismo‐acoustic phenomenology demonstrates that seismic activity is detectable from a high‐altitude platform on Earth, and that Rayleigh wave‐induced infrasound can be used to constrain subsurface velocities, paving the way for the detection and characterization of such signals on Venus.

We conducted an experiment in Pahrump, Nevada, in June 2017, where artificial seismic signals were created using a seismic hammer, and the possibility of detecting them from their acoustic signature was examined. In this work, we analyze the pressure signals recorded by highly sensitive barometers deployed on the ground and on tethers suspended from balloons. Our signal processing results show that wind noise experienced by a barometer on a free‐flying balloon is lower compared to one on a moored balloon. This has never been experimentally demonstrated in the lower troposphere. While seismoacoustic signals were not recorded on the hot air balloon platform owing to operational challenges, we demonstrate the detection of seismoacoustic signals on our moored balloon platform. Our results have important implications for performing seismology in harsh surface environments such as Venus through atmospheric remote sensing.

The mechanical coupling between solid planets and their atmospheres enables seismically‐induced acoustic waves to propagate in the atmosphere. We numerically simulate this coupled system for two application cases: Active Seismic Experiments (ASE) and Passive Seismic Experiments (PSEs). A recent ASE [Krishnamoorthy et al., 2018] observed the infrasonic signals produced by a seismic hammer. To measure the sensitivity of observations to seismic parameters, we attempt to reproduce the results from this experiment at short range by considering a realistic unconsolidated sub‐surface and an idealised rock‐solid sub‐surface. At long range, we investigate the influence of the source by using two focal mechanisms. We found surface waves generate an infrasonic plane head wave in the ASE case of the rock‐solid material. For the PSEs, the amplitude of atmospheric infrasound generated by seismic surface waves is investigated in details. Despite some limitations, the simulations suggest that balloon measurement of seismically‐induced infrasound might help to constrain ground properties.