Computation of travel times and rays in a medium of two-dimensional velocity distribution

A ray-tracing computer program is described for a two-dimensional velocity distribution defined by the local wave velocitiesv_{i, j} in points at arbitrary depthv_{i, j} below the surface points with the horizontal coordinatesx_i. The velocity variation is assumed to be linear in the triangles formed by three neighbouring points. Travel times and rays are then calculated after the exact analytic formulae for any position of the source within the model. No assumptions other than of a piecewise linear velocity structure are made. A first-order discontinuity can be approximated by a thin layer with a strong velocity gradient and refracted waves or wide-angle reflections obtained in this way. As an example,P-wave rays were computed for section No. 05 of the Alpine Longitudinal Profile. The model includes a low-velocity channel which is cut off on the eastern side, first-order discontinuities and a sediment basin.Paper presented at the ESC-Workshop Meeting Seismic Waves in Laterally Inhomogeneous Media, Liblice, 1978.