Using seismic data to detect and locate meteors with the Epos-France Permanent Broadband Network

The Epos-France Permanent Broadband Network (RLBP), originally designed for earthquake monitoring, provides real-time seismic data from over 200 stations across mainland France, enabling the detection and localization of atmospheric events such as meteors. This is achieved through seismic-acoustic coupling, where shock waves generated by meteors can be recorded by the network's sensors. We apply the Reverse Time Migration (RTM) method to identify acoustic sources of interest with accuracy. The method uses a "grid search" approach to evaluate potential source points, ordering seismic traces by distance (hodochrone) and calculating the sum of the envelopes of interest according to the velocity model considered. The integration of atmospheric data from the ECMWF model and an attenuation law optimizes this process by selecting the most relevant seismic stations, increasing signal-to-noise ratios, and improving localization precision. We present case studies including the fragmentation of a meteor over Normandy, France (February 13, 2023) and the eruption of Stromboli Volcano, Italy (July 11, 2024) enabling precise dating of the paroxysm and localization to within a few kilometers of the Sciara del Fuoco (i.e. ground truth validation). This approach, which allows for the localization of a meteor without direct visual observation, regardless of weather conditions or time of day, aims to complement the optical observations of the FRIPON network. Ongoing work that we also present aims to further refine the method to detect other anthropic phenomena in the atmosphere, such as satellite debris and jet shock waves, thereby enhancing the seismic network's ability to monitor an increasingly wide range of events.