groundburst

The powerful tactical nuke was calibrated to explode as a groundburst.

Within hours, fallout from a groundburst at Crewe begins descending upon Sheffield.

A groundburst is the detonation of an explosive device such as an artillery shell, nuclear weapon or air-dropped bomb that explodes upon hitting the ground.

A relatively low yield may be able to produce seismic forces beyond those of an air burst or even groundburst of a weapon with twice its yield.

Fused for a groundburst, it would easily dig out the stillfunctioning Osan Master Control and Reporting Center, the heart of South Korea's military.

During the Inauguration Day in Washington, D.C. on January 21, 2013, a low-yield tactical nuclear weapon is detonated in an apparent groundburst, presumably having been concealed there in advance.