airbursts

An airburst is an explosion that occurs within the Earth's atmosphere, releasing its energy primarily into surrounding air rather than at the surface or in space. Airbursts can be natural, as in meteor events, or man-made, such as detonations conducted in the atmosphere for military or industrial purposes. The energy released rapidly produces a bright flash, a powerful shock wave, and intense heat, with effects that depend on the altitude of the burst and the amount of energy involved.

In natural airbursts, a meteoroid or space debris entering the atmosphere experiences rapid deceleration, intense heating, and fragmentation due to atmospheric drag. The disintegration releases energy in the air, creating a luminous event and a shock wave that can damage structures on the ground even without an impact crater. Notable examples include the Tunguska event of 1908 and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor. The estimated energy of these events ranges from tens of kilotons to several megatons of TNT, with higher altitude bursts producing different damage patterns than surface impacts.

In a military or testing context, an airburst is a detonation that occurs above the surface to optimize blast overpressure and thermal effects over a broad area, while limiting crater formation and ground fallout. The exact effects depend on altitude, yield, and atmospheric conditions. Airbursts are monitored by a range of sensors, including satellites, infrasound arrays, and seismographs, and they have implications for civil safety planning and meteorology when natural airbursts occur.