METHODS FOR CALCULATION OF FREQUENCY DEPENDENT RAYS DEPENDING ON THE MODEL PARAMETRIZATION

The paper presents algorithms for calculating frequency-dependent rays. Three variants for the parametrization of seismic models are considered: a grid model, a grid model with the boundaries of geological bodies specified on the grid, and a model specified by explicit functions. The paper presents an analysis of frequency-dependent ray tracing algorithms, determines the optimal algorithms for each model parameterization, as well as their comparison with the results of standard ray theory and finite-difference modeling.

3-D Multi-Component Reverse Time Migration Method for Tunnel Seismic Data

Migration imaging is a key step in tunnel seismic data processing. Due to the limitation of tunnel space, tunnel seismic data are small-quantity, multi-component, and have a small offset. Kirchhoff migration based on the ray theory is limited to the migration aperture and has low migration imaging accuracy. Kirchhoff migration can no longer meet the requirements of high-precision migration imaging. The reverse time migration (RTM) method is used to realize cross-correlation imaging by reverse-time recursion principle of the wave equation. The 3-D RTM method cannot only overcome the effect of small offset, but also realize multi-component data imaging, which is the most accurate migration method for tunnel seismic data. In this paper, we will study the 3-D RTM method for multi-component tunnel seismic data. Combined with the modeled data and the measured data, the imaging accuracy of the 3-D Kirchhoff migration and 3-D RTM is analyzed in detail. By comparing single-component and multi-component Kirchhoff migration and RTM profile, the advantages of the multi-component RTM method are summarized. Compared with the Kirchhoff migration method, the 3-D RTM method has the following advantages: (1) it can overcome the effect of small offset and expand the range of migration imaging; (2) multi-component data can be realized to improve the energy of anomalous interface; (3) it can make full use of multiple waves to realize migration imaging and improve the resolution of the anomalous interface. The modeled data and the measured data prove the advantages of the 3-D multi-component RTM method.

Infrasound transmission in the "shadow zone" observed on balloons in the lower stratosphere

<p>The temperature and wind structure of the lower atmosphere creates an "acoustic shadow", where acoustic propagation is not expected to occur from a ground based source. This region begins several tens of kilometers from the source and typically ends between one hundred and two hundred kilometers range in the downwind direction of the stratospheric jet. Ground microbarometers still occasionally record acoustic arrivals in this zone due to tropospheric waveguides and/or scattering off of stratospheric structure not accounted for in atmospheric models. However, the properties of these signals in the lower stratosphere (above the tropospheric duct) is unknown, because they have never been previously observed on sensors at these altitudes. Here we present a set of acoustic arrivals from ground explosions recorded on balloons in the lower stratosphere during the mini-BOOSTER campaign in Sweden. Although some of the balloons were in the shadow zone, they still recorded a variety of waveforms from each event. Dual payloads on tethers show that the acoustic waves came from below in these instances. We discuss the provenance of these signals and implications for acoustic transmission in regions where geometric ray theory predicts their absence.</p>

An optic ray theory for durotactic axon guidance

During the development of the nervous system, neurons extend bundles of axons that grow and meet other neurons to form the neuronal network. Robust guidance mechanisms are needed for these bundles to migrate and reach their functional target. Directional information depends on external cues such as chemical or mechanical gradients. Unlike chemotaxis that has been extensively studied, the role and mechanism of durotaxis, the directed response to variations in substrate rigidity, remain unclear. We model bundle migration and guidance by rigidity gradients by using the theory of morphoelastic rods. We show that at a rigidity interface, the motion of axon bundles follows a simple behavior analogous to optic ray theory and obeys Snell’s law for refraction and reflection. We use this powerful analogy to demonstrate that axons can be guided by the equivalent of optical lenses and fibers created by regions of different stiffnesses.

Geometric-acoustics analysis of singly scattered, nonlinearly evolving waves by circular cylinders

Geometric acoustics, or acoustic ray theory, is used to analyze the scattering of high-amplitude acoustic waves incident upon rigid circular cylinders. Theoretical predictions of the nonlinear evolution of the scattered wave field are provided, as well as measures of the importance of accounting for nonlinearity. An analysis of scattering by many cylinders is also provided, though the effects of multiple scattering are not considered. Provided the characteristic nonlinear distortion length is much larger than a cylinder radius, the nonlinear evolution of the incident wave is shown to be of much greater importance to the overall evolution than the nonlinear evolution of the individual scattered waves.