Seismic Sensors Detect Forests Via Ambient Noise

A Feb. 10, 2026 arXiv preprint by Marat Latypov and colleagues demonstrates passive seismic sensing can detect forests from ambient seismic noise. Using Alaska seismic data, supervised models classify forest presence with 86% accuracy and identify key 35–60 Hz discriminating frequencies, while cross-correlations approximate empirical Green's functions. A topological acoustics analysis confirms the physical basis, offering scalable all-weather vegetation monitoring.