Gustav Eriksson: High-fidelity simulations of infrasound

Abstract:

In this seminar, I will take you through the process of developing a high-fidelity sound simulation tool for large-scale infrasound propagation (sound with a frequency less than 20 Hz). The simulation software, called SoundSim360, uses an energy-stable finite difference discretization of the second-order wave equation implemented to run on GPUs using CUDA. I will go through the steps of choosing a physical model, incorporating data, discretizing the model numerically, implementing it in CUDA, and validating the code. In a recent study, we compared the simulation results from SoundSim360 against accurate measurements of infrasound from wind farms in Sweden. We found that the infrasound levels from modern wind turbines are significantly higher than the levels from previously studied older (smaller) wind turbines. This can potentially lead to health issues for people living in the vicinity of modern wind farms.