A1. Intense local fallout due to low altitude or surface detonationv

Topic

The energy partitioning model established that the detonation height determines how much energy goes into excavating a crater versus forming a broad shockwave. This anomaly arises when a detonation occurs at or near ground level, causing a suction of soil and debris into the fireball that is far greater than what is assumed by models based on an "optimal" airburst; the more soil the fireball draws in, the more local fallout is generated—far exceeding the levels predicted by standard airburst energy partitioning.

This drastically alters the expected ratio between the two types of damage: rather than overpressure damage dominating, the primary risk shifts to radiological exposure in the ensuing hours and days. Furthermore, the radiological risk zone may not align with the area of ​​greatest structural damage, precisely because the two rely on distinct mechanisms already defined by the energy partitioning model.

Consequently, because this model begins with a ground-level detonation, civil protection planning cannot rely on a single expected damage profile. A low-altitude scenario necessitates protocols for prolonged sheltering—even in areas with only moderate structural damage—and it is precisely this discrepancy between structural and radiological damage that allows one, later in this catalog, to infer whether a historical detonation was an airburst or a surface burst based on the observed fallout pattern.

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