Near-surface site investigation by seismic interferometry using urban traffic noise in Singapore

We have evaluated a field test in the city of Singapore to assess the feasibility of the passive seismic survey for bedrock depth determination and to further investigate the optimal acquisition parameters. The ambient noise field, dominated by urban traffic noise, is recorded passively for the application of seismic interferometry. Spectral analysis indicates that the traffic-induced noise by local roads is concentrated between 3 and 25 Hz. We use multiple signal classification beamforming for wavefield direction of propagation analysis. We apply seismic interferometry to retrieve the surface-wave part of the Green’s functions, based on which surface-wave dispersion relations are extracted and further inverted for 1D S-wave velocity profiles. Subsequently, we compare the inversion results from seismic interferometry with borehole logs at multiple sites in Singapore and establish that the bedrock depths are well-determined using passive seismic methods within a maximum error of 3 m. By investigating the convergence of the crosscorrelograms, we ascertain that the best compromise of cost, efficiency, and accuracy for a passive site investigation in Singapore can be achieved in 15 min in the morning of a working day using an array as short as 30 m with six vertical geophones, although these parameters should be reinvestigated at other sites and other times. The success of this case study demonstrates that accurate near-surface site investigation can be achieved with faster acquisition, fewer receivers, and a smaller acquisition footprint compared with conventional methods, all of which improve the efficiency particularly in a highly developed urban environment.