scholarly journals Wave-equation dispersion spectrum inversion for near-surface characterization using fibre-optics acquisition

2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (2) ◽  
pp. 907-918
Author(s):  
Zhen-dong Zhang ◽  
Mamdoh Alajami ◽  
Tariq Alkhalifah

SUMMARY Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) acquisition is becoming more and more popular for its dense sampling at a lower cost than seismometers. However, data processing for DAS data is challenging, especially for surface-deployedfibers, in which only the horizontal component of strain variation is effectively recorded. Also, the coupling between the fiber and the Earth is usually poor and the recorded single-component data are noisy. Thus, we introduce data processing strategies dedicated to enhancing the ambient-noise and active-source seismic data recorded by a horizontally deployed tactical fiber-optics cable buried in a sand dune area in Saudi Arabia. We propose a similarity-weighted stacking of randomly selected short-time duration windows to generate virtual common shot gathers (CSG) from the recorded ambient noise. The similarity-weighted stacking only counts the primary contributions of coherent events, while a short-time correlation can suppress the crosstalk usually present in late arrivals. The stacking fold is preserved or even can be increased by generating plenty of random time segments compared to stacking the full recording time. For the recorded active-source data, we skip the interferometric step, but use the envelope of the CSG. The envelope is needed to mitigate the complexity of waveforms, while preserving the slopes of arrivals. Then, we use the wave-equation-based Rayleigh-wave dispersion spectrum inversion, which utilizes all the dispersion modes available and does not require picking the dispersion curve, in estimating the shallow S-wave velocities. The local cross-correlation objective function allows for additional freedom in matching the modelled and observed data, and thus, helps us avoid falling into a local minimum when starting with kinematically poor velocity models.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. SM27-SM37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Li ◽  
Kai Lu ◽  
Sherif Hanafy ◽  
Gerard Schuster

Two robust imaging technologies are reviewed that provide subsurface geologic information in challenging environments. The first one is wave-equation dispersion (WD) inversion of surface waves and guided waves (GW) for the shear-velocity (S-wave) and compressional-velocity (P-wave) models, respectively. The other method is traveltime inversion for the velocity model, in which supervirtual refraction interferometry (SVI) is used to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of far-offset refractions. We have determined the benefits and liabilities of both methods with synthetic seismograms and field data. The benefits of WD are that (1) there is no layered-medium assumption, as there is in conventional inversion of dispersion curves. This means that 2D or 3D velocity models can be accurately estimated from data recorded by seismic surveys over rugged topography, and (2) WD mostly avoids getting stuck in local minima. The liability is that WD for surface waves is almost as expensive as full-waveform inversion (FWI) and, for Rayleigh waves, only recovers the S-velocity distribution to a depth no deeper than approximately 1/2 to 1/3 wavelength of the lowest-frequency surface wave. The limitation for GW is that, for now, it can estimate the P-velocity model by inverting the dispersion curves from GW propagating in near-surface low-velocity zones. Also, WD often requires user intervention to pick reliable dispersion curves. For SVI, the offset of usable refractions can be more than doubled, so that traveltime tomography can be used to estimate a much deeper model of the P-velocity distribution. This can provide a more effective starting velocity model for FWI. The liability is that SVI assumes head-wave first arrivals, not those from strong diving waves.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 6672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yawar Hussain ◽  
Martin Cardenas-Soto ◽  
Salvatore Martino ◽  
Cesar Moreira ◽  
Welitom Borges ◽  
...  

Geophysical methods have a varying degree of potential for detailed characterization of landslides and their dynamics. In this study, the application of four well-established seismic-based geophysical techniques, namely Ambient Noise Interferometry (ANI), Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR), Multi-Channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) and Nanoseismic Monitoring (NM), were considered to examine their suitability for landslide characterization and monitoring the effect of seasonal variation on slope mass. Furthermore, other methods such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and DC Resistivity through Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) were also used for comparison purpose. The advantages and limitations of these multiple techniques were exemplified by a case study conducted on Sobradinho landslide in Brazil. The study revealed that the geophysical characterization of the landslide using traditional techniques (i.e., GPR, ERT and MASW) were successful in (i) the differentiation between landslide debris and other Quaternary deposits, and (ii) the delineation of the landslide sliding surface. However, the innovative seismic based techniques, particularly ambient noise based (HVSR and ANI) and emitted seismic based (NM), were not very effective for the dynamic monitoring of landslide, which might be attributed to the short-time duration of the data acquisition campaigns. The HVSR was also unsuccessful in landslide site characterization i.e., identification of geometry and sliding surface. In particular, there was no clear evidence of the light seasonal variations, which could have been potentially detected from the physical parameters during the (short-time) ambient noise and microseismic acquisition campaigns. Nevertheless, the experienced integration of these geophysical techniques may provide a promising tool for future applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Paustian

Karst environments are characterized by voids, i.e. sinkholes and conduits of varying size that arise from the active dissolution of carbonate rock by acidic groundwater. These voids, whether air-, water-, or soil-filled, can be difficult to image using near-surface geophysical methods due to the limited investigation depths of most active-source methods. In addition, due to the significant effort it takes to collect active-source data, investigators are often unable to monitor spatio-temporal variations in the subsurface. The ability to detect, image, and monitor subsurface voids improves the understanding of processes that create and transform voids, a vitally important insight across a variety of scientifc disciplines and engineering applications, including hydrogeology, geotechnical engineering, planetary science and even issues of national security. Using a 54-element nodal array (1C and 3C sensors), I image the subsurface of the USF GeoPark with ambient noise surface wave tomography. I also use complementary active-source geophysical datasets (e.g. 2D ERT) collected at the GeoPark to constrain and/or validate the tomography results. I address two research questions with this study: (1) How do ambient seismic methods complement active-source near-surface methods? (2) Can ambient noise tomography resolve voids in the karst environment? In this thesis, I discuss my answers to these questions and present the current state of surface wave methods in the karst environment, including the feasibility for utilizing ambient noise methods to monitor spatio-temporal changes in sinkhole and conduit formation. In addition to the ability to use seismic methods for temporal monitoring, ambient noise provides lower frequencies than what are achievable with active-source seismic methods. Using frequencies from 5-28 Hz, ambient noise tomography is able to image deeper into the subsurface (up to 100 m at 5 Hz) than previous active-source seismic studies at the GeoPark field site. This study yields a more robust and simple method to image voids in covered karst environments and a long-term installation of ambient seismic nodes enables future investigations of spatio-temporal variations in void structures.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Francesco Civilini

<p>We present three projects that use different bandwidths of the ambient noise spectrum to solve geophysical problems. Specifically, we use signals within the noise field to determine surface and shear wave velocities, image the shallow and deep crust, and monitor time-dependent deformation resulting from geothermal fluid injection and extraction.  Harrat Al-Madinah, a Cenozoic bimodal alkaline volcanic field in west-central Saudi Arabia, is imaged using shear-velocities obtained from natural ambient seismic noise. To our knowledge, this project is the first analysis of Saudi Arabia structure using ambient noise methods. Surface wave arrivals are extracted from a year's worth of station-pair cross-correlations, which are approximations of the empirical Green's function of the interstation path. We determine group and phase velocity surface wave dispersion maps with a 0.1 decimal degree resolution and resolve a zone of slow surface wave velocity south-east of the city of Medina, which is spatially correlated with the most recent historical eruption (the 1256 CE Medina eruption). Dispersion curves are calculated at each grid-point of the surface-wave velocity maps and inverted to obtain measurements of shear-velocity with depth. The 1D velocity models are then used to produce average shear-velocity models for the volcanic field. A shear-velocity increase ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 km/s, suggesting a layer interface, is detected at approximately 20 km depth and compared to P-wave measurement from a previous refraction study. We compute cross-section profiles by interpolating the inversions into a pseudo-3D model and resolve a zone of slow shear-velocity below the 1256 CE eruption location. These areas are also spatially correlated with low values of Bouguer gravity. We hypothesize that the low shear-velocity and gravity measurements are caused by fluids and fractures created from prior volcanic eruptions.   We use the coda of cross-correlations extracted from ambient noise to determine shear-velocity changes at Rotokawa and Ngatamariki, two electricity producing geothermal fields located in the North Island of New Zealand. Stacks of cross correlations between stations prior to the onset of production are compared to cross correlations of moving stacks in time periods of well stimulation and the onset of electricity production using the Moving Window Cross Spectral technique. An increase between 0.05% to 0.1% of shear-velocity is detected at Rotokawa coinciding with an increase of injection. The shear-velocity subsequently decreases by approximately 0.1% when the rate of production surpasses the rate of injection. A similar amplitude shear-velocity increase is detected at Ngatamariki during the beginning of injection. After the initial increase, the shear-velocity at Ngatamariki fluctuates in response to differences in injection and production rates. A straight-ray pseudo-tomography analysis is conducted at the geothermal fields, which reveals that localized positive velocity changes are co-located with injection wells.  Lastly, we use ambient noise and active sources at the Ngatamariki geothermal field to determine the structure of the top 200 meters using the Refraction Microtremor technique. We deployed a linear 72-channel array of vertical geophones with ten meter spacing at two locations of the geothermal field and determine average 1D and 2D shear-velocity profiles. We were able to image depths between 57 to 93 meters for 2D profiles and up to 165 meters for 1D profiles. A shear-velocity anomaly was detected across one of the lines that coincided with the inferred location of a fault determined from nearby well logs. This suggests that the method can be used to cheaply and quickly constrain near-surface geology at geothermal fields, where ambient noise is abundant and typical reflection and refraction surveys require large inputs of energy and are hindered by attenuation and scattering in near-surface layers.</p>


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. SJ17-SJ27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pascal Edme ◽  
Shihao Yuan

A novel acquisition and processing technique is described to derive surface-wave dispersion curves from seismic ambient noise. We have determined that the use of spatial gradients of the wavefield provides new opportunities for high-resolution near-surface characterization with minimal field effort. In contrast to conventional active source data analysis that provides spatially smoothed results from large and dense arrays of receivers, our method provides local phase velocity information from ambient noise using only three closely spaced geophones. A time-frequency domain polarization-based analysis scheme is implemented to (1) detect the useful part of the data satisfying fundamental gradiometry assumptions, (2) estimate the noise source azimuthal distribution, and finally, (3) derive the desired local dispersion curves. The robustness and effectiveness of the developed method is demonstrated using the synthetic and real data, with a comparison to results from active source measurements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Francesco Civilini

<p>We present three projects that use different bandwidths of the ambient noise spectrum to solve geophysical problems. Specifically, we use signals within the noise field to determine surface and shear wave velocities, image the shallow and deep crust, and monitor time-dependent deformation resulting from geothermal fluid injection and extraction.  Harrat Al-Madinah, a Cenozoic bimodal alkaline volcanic field in west-central Saudi Arabia, is imaged using shear-velocities obtained from natural ambient seismic noise. To our knowledge, this project is the first analysis of Saudi Arabia structure using ambient noise methods. Surface wave arrivals are extracted from a year's worth of station-pair cross-correlations, which are approximations of the empirical Green's function of the interstation path. We determine group and phase velocity surface wave dispersion maps with a 0.1 decimal degree resolution and resolve a zone of slow surface wave velocity south-east of the city of Medina, which is spatially correlated with the most recent historical eruption (the 1256 CE Medina eruption). Dispersion curves are calculated at each grid-point of the surface-wave velocity maps and inverted to obtain measurements of shear-velocity with depth. The 1D velocity models are then used to produce average shear-velocity models for the volcanic field. A shear-velocity increase ranging from 0.5 to 1.0 km/s, suggesting a layer interface, is detected at approximately 20 km depth and compared to P-wave measurement from a previous refraction study. We compute cross-section profiles by interpolating the inversions into a pseudo-3D model and resolve a zone of slow shear-velocity below the 1256 CE eruption location. These areas are also spatially correlated with low values of Bouguer gravity. We hypothesize that the low shear-velocity and gravity measurements are caused by fluids and fractures created from prior volcanic eruptions.   We use the coda of cross-correlations extracted from ambient noise to determine shear-velocity changes at Rotokawa and Ngatamariki, two electricity producing geothermal fields located in the North Island of New Zealand. Stacks of cross correlations between stations prior to the onset of production are compared to cross correlations of moving stacks in time periods of well stimulation and the onset of electricity production using the Moving Window Cross Spectral technique. An increase between 0.05% to 0.1% of shear-velocity is detected at Rotokawa coinciding with an increase of injection. The shear-velocity subsequently decreases by approximately 0.1% when the rate of production surpasses the rate of injection. A similar amplitude shear-velocity increase is detected at Ngatamariki during the beginning of injection. After the initial increase, the shear-velocity at Ngatamariki fluctuates in response to differences in injection and production rates. A straight-ray pseudo-tomography analysis is conducted at the geothermal fields, which reveals that localized positive velocity changes are co-located with injection wells.  Lastly, we use ambient noise and active sources at the Ngatamariki geothermal field to determine the structure of the top 200 meters using the Refraction Microtremor technique. We deployed a linear 72-channel array of vertical geophones with ten meter spacing at two locations of the geothermal field and determine average 1D and 2D shear-velocity profiles. We were able to image depths between 57 to 93 meters for 2D profiles and up to 165 meters for 1D profiles. A shear-velocity anomaly was detected across one of the lines that coincided with the inferred location of a fault determined from nearby well logs. This suggests that the method can be used to cheaply and quickly constrain near-surface geology at geothermal fields, where ambient noise is abundant and typical reflection and refraction surveys require large inputs of energy and are hindered by attenuation and scattering in near-surface layers.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 222 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Lu ◽  
L Stehly ◽  
R Brossier ◽  
A Paul ◽  

SUMMARY We present an improved crustal Vs model and Moho depth map using ambient noise wave-equation tomography. The so-called ‘ambient noise wave-equation tomography’ is a method to invert seismic ambient noise phase dispersion data based on elastic waveform simulation, which accounts for 3-D and finite-frequency effects. We use cross-correlations of up to 4 yr of continuous vertical-component ambient seismic noise recordings from 304 high-quality broad-band stations in the Alpine region. We use model LSP_Eucrust1.0 obtained from traditional ambient noise tomography as initial model, and we iteratively improve the initial model by minimizing frequency-dependent phase traveltime differences between the observed and synthetic waveforms of Rayleigh waves in the period range 10–50 s. We obtain the final model after 15 iterations with ∼65 per cent total misfit reduction compared to the initial model. At crustal depth, the final model significantly enhances the amplitudes and adjusts the shapes of velocity anomalies. At Moho and upper-mantle depth, the final model corrects an obvious systematic velocity shift of the initial model. The resulting isovelocity Moho map confirms a Moho step along the external side of the external crystalline massifs of the northwestern Alps and reveals underplated gabbroic plutons in the lower most crust of the central and eastern Alps. Ambient noise wave-equation tomography turns out to be a useful tool to refine shear wave velocity models obtained by traditional ambient noise tomography based on ray theory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Apiñaniz ◽  
S. Malko ◽  
R. Fedosejevs ◽  
W. Cayzac ◽  
X. Vaisseau ◽  
...  

AbstractWe report on the development of a highly directional, narrow energy band, short time duration proton beam operating at high repetition rate. The protons are generated with an ultrashort-pulse laser interacting with a solid target and converted to a pencil-like narrow-band beam using a compact magnet-based energy selector. We experimentally demonstrate the production of a proton beam with an energy of 500 keV and energy spread well below 10$$\% $$ % , and a pulse duration of 260 ps. The energy loss of this beam is measured in a 2 $$\upmu $$ μ m thick solid Mylar target and found to be in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The short time duration of the proton pulse makes it particularly well suited for applications involving the probing of highly transient plasma states produced in laser-matter interaction experiments. This proton source is particularly relevant for measurements of the proton stopping power in high energy density plasmas and warm dense matter.


Geophysics ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 79 (4) ◽  
pp. T243-T255 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. D. Hobro ◽  
Chris H. Chapman ◽  
Johan O. A. Robertsson

We present a new method for correcting the amplitudes of arrivals in an acoustic finite-difference simulation for elastic effects. In this method, we selectively compute an estimate of the error incurred when the acoustic wave equation is used to approximate the behavior of the elastic wave equation. This error estimate is used to generate an effective source field in a second acoustic simulation. The result of this second simulation is then applied as a correction to the original acoustic simulation. The overall cost is approximately twice that of an acoustic simulation but substantially less than the cost of an elastic simulation. Because both simulations are acoustic, no S-waves are generated, so dispersed converted waves are avoided. We tested the characteristics of the method on a simple synthetic model designed to simulate propagation through a strong acoustic impedance contrast representative of sedimentary geology. It corrected amplitudes to high accuracy for reflected arrivals over a wide range of incidence angles. We also evaluated results from simulations on more complex models that demonstrated that the method was applicable in realistic sedimentary models containing a wide range of seismic contrasts. However, its accuracy was reduced for wide-angle reflections from very high impedance contrasts such as a shallow top-salt interface. We examined the influence of modeling at coarse grid resolutions, in which converted S-waves in the equivalent elastic simulation are dispersed. These results provide some validation for the accuracy of the method when applied using finite-difference grids designed for acoustic modeling. The method appears to offer a cost-effective means of modeling elastic amplitudes for P-wave arrivals in a useful range of velocity models. It has several potential applications in imaging and inversion.


Author(s):  
Vladimir Karpinsky ◽  
Vladimir Asming

The infrasound array VALS developed in Kola Branch GS RAS has been installed in June 2016 on the Valaam Island in addition to the continuously operating seismic station VALR. The array consists of 3 spaced low-frequency microphones. The data with a sampling rate of 100 Hz is stored continuously at the acquisition computer; the timing is carried out using GPS. In addition to the acquisition system, an infrasound signal detector is installed on the computer. It works in near real-time mode and enables us to find signals and compute their back azimuths. At the end of 2018, a new version of the detector was developed at the Kola Branch GS RAS. The detector began to work much faster, which enabled us to carry out data processing for 2.5 years in two frequency ranges in a short time. The main task of the array is acoustic monitoring, the detection of infrasound events, the determination of their parameters, and the selection of events of natural origin. The data are also used (in combination with the VALR seismic station data) to locate near seismic events, especially weak ones. The analysis of the obtained data revealed the prevailing directions to the signal sources. The change of directions to sources in time was investigated, seasonal features were revealed. Acoustic events were detected in the frequency bands 1–5 Hz and 10–20 Hz, and a significant difference was found in the azimuthal distribution of events for these ranges. A joint analysis of acoustic and seismic data showed that the part of events with both acoustic and seismic components is low – it is almost completely exhausted by career explosions. It was also noted that in addition to explosions in nearby quarries (Kuznechnoye, Pitkäranta) located at a distance of 50–60 km, according to acoustic data, events corresponding to explosions at quarries located at a distance of 100 km or more were repeatedly identified.


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