Dr Ben Fernando

Abstract:

Seismic observations of impacts on Mars indicate a higher impact flux than previously measured. Using six confirmed seismic impact detections near the NASA InSight lander and two distant large impacts, we calculate appropriate scalings to compare these rates with lunar-based chronology models. We also update the impact rate from orbital observations using the most recent catalog of new craters on Mars. The snapshot of the current impact rate at Mars recorded seismically is higher than that found using orbital detections alone. The measured rates differ between a factor of 2 and 10, depending on the diameter, although the sample size of seismically detected impacts is small. The close timing of the two largest new impacts found on Mars in the past few decades indicates either a heightened impact rate or a low-probability temporal coincidence, perhaps representing recent fragmentation of a parent body. We conclude that seismic methods of detecting current impacts offer a more complete dataset than orbital imaging.

Abstract:

Template matching has become a cornerstone technique of observational seismology. By taking known events, and scanning them against a continuous record, new events smaller than the signal-to-noise ratio can be found, substantially improving the magnitude of completeness of earthquake catalogues. Template matching is normally used in an array setting, however as we move into the era of planetary seismology, we are likely to apply template matching for very small arrays or even single stations. Given the high impact of planetary seismology studies on our understanding of the structure and dynamics of non-Earth bodies, it is important to assess the reliability of template matching in the small-n setting. Towards this goal, we estimate a lower bound on the rate of false positives for single-station template matching by examining the behaviour of correlations of totally uncorrelated white noise. We find that, for typical processing regimes and match thresholds, false positives are likely quite common. We must therefore be exceptionally careful when considering the output of template matching in the small-n setting.