Kennedy Space Center, Florida · 2022 pilot study · USF22-01
Can a rocket launch disturb groundwater near the pad? In 2022, USF and Locher Environmental monitored two existing wells about 500 metres from Launch Complex 39A. The coastal setting motivated a second, longer-term question: could repeated launches change the amount of groundwater reaching the shoreline?
Listening above and below ground
From March through December, the team collected seismic, infrasound, and well records. Locher Environmental instrumented a shallow freshwater well (4.6 metres deep) and a deeper, partly saline well (9.1 metres). USF placed a broadband seismometer and an infrasound sensor alongside them. Comparing the timing of ground motion, air pressure, and well pressure allowed the team to examine which signals arrived together during liftoff.
How much did the water move?
Early pressure sensors appeared to ring during launches, making their apparent water-level changes difficult to interpret. In July the team installed vibrating-wire sensors and added a simple independent check: a passive tube in each well that retained the highest water mark between readings.
| Well depth | Passive tube | Vibrating-wire sensor |
|---|---|---|
| 4.6 m | 6.95 cm | 7.74 cm |
| 9.1 m | 10.3 cm | 8.43 cm |
The two methods recorded excursions of comparable size. Only the electronic sensors recorded their timing. The team is investigating whether low-frequency sound from a launch can couple into the ground and produce a short-lived pressure response in a well.
The coastal question
A temporary rise in a well leaves open how much groundwater moved, in which direction, and for how long. Testing whether launches contribute to coastal erosion would require observations nearer the shoreline and a way to separate any launch effect from changes driven by tides, storms, and hurricanes. The pilot results remain unpublished.
Project team
Glenn Thompson (USF) led the seismic and infrasound work. Steven Krupa and Kevin Locher led the groundwater work at Locher Environmental. Kelly Blair, also of Locher Environmental, contributed to the 2022 study abstract.