Canonical Correlation Analysis Based on Site-Response Proxies to Predict Site-Specific Amplification Functions in Switzerland

Author(s):  
Francesco Panzera ◽  
Paolo Bergamo ◽  
Donat Fäh

ABSTRACT The national seismic networks of Switzerland comprise more than 200 stations. At the station sites, the empirical amplification functions (EAFs) are routinely computed after each earthquake using a generalized inversion method based on separation of source, path, and site effects. The seismic stations are also characterized through geophysical measurements aiming to estimate shear-wave velocity profiles and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio of ambient vibrations (HVNR). Using this information, the correlation between the HVNR and EAF is assessed through canonical correlation. Once established, the canonical correlation is used to reconstruct the expected EAFpred at each considered station site in the dataset. The prediction is individually made for all seismic stations in the dataset, excluding every time the investigated station is from the calibration dataset; the reconstruction of the EAFpred is performed resorting to two parallel methods. The first method uses a combination of the canonical correlation parameters and Moran index, and the second one solves in a least-squares sense an overdetermined linear equation system including the canonical couples deemed as reliable. After a first round of predictions, a systematic lower EAFpred in soft sediment sites and a higher EAFpred in hard-rock sites is observed. A possible explanation for this behavior is found in the “normalization” to the Swiss standard rock profile in the computation of the EAF at the Swiss stations. Therefore, to reduce this effect, geological and geophysical parameters are considered in addition to the HVNR in the canonical correlation. We observe that the final solution improves when the least-squares solution approach is used with a combination of HVNR, VS30, and thickness of the ice cover at the last glacial maximum. Moreover, a blind test is performed using data not considered in the calibration dataset. The results highlight the ability of the method to provide an estimate of the site amplification over chosen frequency bins.


2011 ◽  
Vol 80-81 ◽  
pp. 606-610
Author(s):  
Hui Cheng Shao ◽  
Xing Yun Zhu ◽  
Ci Jian Luo

In this paper, Lg wave records of 43 strong aftershocks in the northern segment of Wenchuan aftershock area recorded by 25 stations of Shaanxi digital network are used. Based on spectral ratio method, a joint inversion method is used to obtain parameters of Lg wave attenuation and site response. In the range of 0.5~7 Hz, the Lg wave attenuation coefficient corresponding to UD, EW and NS components are γ(f)=0.0045f0.327,γ(f)=0.0034f0.417 and γ(f)=0.0036f0.393, respectively. The results show that all stations have site effects lower than 5 in the low frequency, the stations in the Weihe basin as Lint, Jyat and etc do not show obvious amplification, but the stations in the Qinling Mountain show obvious amplification in the high frequencies. At the same time, the results mentioned above are also compared with the that retrieved from small earthquakes.



Geophysics ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 69 (2) ◽  
pp. 378-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aristotelis Dasios ◽  
Clive McCann ◽  
Timothy Astin

We minimize the effect of noise and increase both the reliability and the resolution of attenuation estimates obtained from multireceiver full‐waveform sonics. Multiple measurements of effective attenuation were generated from full‐waveform sonic data recorded by an eight‐receiver sonic tool in a gas‐bearing sandstone reservoir using two independent techniques: the logarithmic spectral ratio (LSR) and the instantaneous frequency (IF) method. After rejecting unstable estimates [receiver separation <2 ft (0.61 m)], least‐squares inversion was used to combine the multiple estimates into high‐resolution attenuation logs. The procedure was applied to raw attenuation data obtained with both the LSR and IF methods, and the resulting logs showed that the attenuation estimates obtained for the maximum receiver separation of 3.5 ft (1.07 m) provide a smoothed approximation of the high‐resolution measurements. The approximation is better for the IF method, with the normalized crosscorrelation factor between the low‐ and high‐resolution logs being 0.90 for the IF method and 0.88 for the LSR method.



Geophysics ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonidas C. Ocola

An iterative inversion method (Reframap) based on the kinematic properties of critically refracted waves is developed. The method is based on ray tracing and assumes homogeneous and isotropic media and ray paths confined to a vertical plane through each source‐detector pair. Unlike the earlier Profile or Time‐Term Methods, no restrictions are imposed on interface topography except that it be continuous almost everywhere (in the mathematical sense). As in the preexisting methods, more observations than unknowns are assumed. The algorithm and procedure, on which the Reframap Method is based, generate apparent dips for each source detector pair at the noncritical interfaces from the slope of a least‐squares line approximation to the interface functional in the neighborhood of each refraction point. In turn, the dip and path along the critical refractor is, at every iteration, pairwise approximated by a line through the critical refracting points. The incidence angles are computed recursively by Snell’s law. The solution of the overdetermined, nonlinear multiple refractor time‐distance system of simultaneous equations is sought by Marquardt’s algorithm for least‐squares estimation of critical refractor velocity and vertical thickness under each element.



Geofluids ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Xijun Song ◽  
Juan Liu ◽  
Jingyan Lan ◽  
Ting Wang

Two sets of dynamic centrifugal model tests were designed and implemented in this study: the overlying waterless surface and the water-covered surface. Based on the use of the El Centro waves with different intensities as the base input, the seismic time history at the surface of two sets of free site models was obtained. According to the results of the site response at two sets of the free site surface obtained with a traditional spectral ratio, the coherence functions at the surface and the base were used to modify the traditional spectral ratio for analysis and to evaluate the effect of the ground motion coherence function for site amplification. The modal characteristics and the amplification effect of a typical saturated soil water free site were summarized at the same time. The results showed that the ground response results of the two groups of typical free site centrifugal models were greatly influenced by the coherence function. In the low frequency phase, the coherence function of the amplification spectrum of the site response decreased significantly, while in the high frequency phase, the decrease trend decreased. The coherence function had a significant effect on the first-order mode of the free site. The first-order mode frequency and the amplification factor of a typical free site could be identified effectively. Compared with the saturated land free site model, the saturated soil water free site model had higher-order modes due to the overlying water. It was shown that the overlying water, as part of a complex medium system, could be ignored in the site response and basic cycle estimation.



1991 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 551-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Rovelli ◽  
Shri K. Singh ◽  
Luca Malagnini ◽  
Alessandro Amato ◽  
Massimo Cocco

We explore the feasibility of the use of microtremors in estimating the amplification of seismic waves at soft sites in Italy. Microtremors were measured at three soft sites and nearby hard sites at night when the cultural noise was minimum. These soft sites were selected as those showing the largest amplifications of ground motion during earthquakes as compared to the records on the hard sites or with respect to the predicted spectra. We compare the soft-to-hard site microtremor spectral ratios with the corresponding acceleration spectral ratios. A rough estimate of the shape and level of spectral amplification is obtained from the microtremor data in all three cases. However, the details of the soft-to-hard site spectral ratio are not reproduced and some differences appear in (a) the frequency at which the maximum amplification occurs, and (b) the bandwidth of the significant amplification. More testing of the method is needed before its wider use for microzonation in Italy can be recommended.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga-Joan Ktenidou ◽  
Faidra Gkika ◽  
Erion-Vasilis Pikoulis ◽  
Christos Evangelidis

&lt;p&gt;Although it is nowadays desirable and even typical to characterise site conditions in detail at modern recording stations, this is not yet a general rule in Greece, due to the large number and geographical dispersion of stations. Indeed, most of them are still characterised merely through geological descriptions or proxy-based parameters, rather than through in-situ measurements. Considering: 1. the progress made in recent years with sophisticated ground motion models and the need to define region-specific rock conditions based on data, 2. the move towards large open-access strong-motion databases that require detailed site metadata, and 3. that Greek-provenance recordings represent a significant portion of European seismic data, there are many reasons to improve our understanding of site response at these stations. Moreover, it has been shown recently in several regions that even sites considered as rock can exhibit amplification and ground motion variability, which has given rise to more scientific research into the definition of reference sites. For Greece, in-situ-characterisation campaigns for the entire network would impose unattainable time/budget constraints; so, instead, we implement alternative empirical approaches using the recordings themselves, such as the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio technique and its variability. We present examples of 'well-behaved', typical rock sites, and others whose response diverges from what is assumed for their class.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;



1992 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 2283-2307
Author(s):  
E. H. Field ◽  
K. H. Jacob ◽  
S. E. Hough

Abstract Using weak-motion recordings of aftershocks of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake recorded in Oakland, California, near the failed Nimitz Freeway, two methods have been applied to estimate the site response of an alluvium site and three mud-over-alluvium sites. The first estimate is the traditional spectral ratio, and the second utilizes the cross spectrum. Recordings obtained at a nearby bedrock site are used as estimates of the sediment site input motions. While the two site response estimates produce similar peaks and troughs, there is an approximate factor of 2 difference in amplitudes. This discrepancy is evidence that there is a much greater level of noise than would be expected from the pre-event ambient noise. We interpret this as signal-generated noise produced by scattering from heterogeneities, which causes the true sediment site input to differ significantly from the bedrock site recording. Given this level of noise, the cross-spectrum estimate suffers a severe downward bias (by a factor of 2 in this study) and should probably not be used when the input motion is estimated from a bedrock site recording. The spectral-ratio estimates are relatively unbiased, but the level of noise introduces a large degree of uncertainty. Therefore, inferences about site response from individual spectral ratios should probably be avoided. On the other hand, ensemble averages of the estimates significantly reduce the scatter to reveal resonances that agree quite well in frequency and overall shape with those of one-dimensional models whose parameters were determined independently. A discrepancy of higher observed amplitudes than predicted by theory remains unexplained but most likely results from the effects of boundary layer topography, which are not accounted for by the simple one-dimensional models.



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