Experiment and Theoretical Study of Earthquake Detection Capability by Means of Microwave Passive Sensors on a Satellite

This letter presents the possibility of detecting earthquakes (EQs) from microwaves emitted when rock fractures. The method is based on an experiment in which microwave emission was detected from rock fracturing in a laboratory for the first time in the world. First, the method of calibrating emitted microwave power from experimental data is presented. A model of microwave emission and propagation to a satellite is then proposed. An advantage of microwaves is that they penetrate the Earth´s ionosphere, unlike radiowaves of frequencies lower than several tens of megahertz. The power received by a satelliteborne receiver is estimated by assuming parameters of a radiometer currently operating in orbit. The result indicates that a satelliteborne receiver can detect microwave signals generated by an EQ. Based on this result, we attempted to detect some features associated with an actual EQ from the data of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observation System aboard the remote sensing satellite Aqua.