Influence of instruments on the H/V spectral ratios of ambient vibrations

For an optimal analysis of the H/V curve, it appears necessary to check the instrument signal to noise ratio in the studied frequency band, to ensure that the signal from the ground noise is well above the internal noise. We assess the reliability and accuracy of various digitizers, sensors and/or digitizer-sensor couples. Although this study is of general interest for any kind of seismological study, we emphasize the influence of equipment on H/V analysis results. To display the impact of the instrumental part on the H/V behavior, some series of tests have been carried out following a step-by-step procedure: first, the digitizers have been tested in the lab (sensitivity, internal noise...), then the three components sensors, still in the lab, and finally the usual user digitizers-sensors couple in lab and outdoors. In general, the digitizer characteristics, verified during this test, correspond well to the manufacturer specifications, however, depending on the digitizer, the quality of the digitized waveform can be very good to very poor, with variation from a channel to another channel (gain, time difference etc.). It appears very clearly that digitizers need a warming up time before the recording to avoid problems in the low-frequency range. Regarding the sensors, we recommend strongly to avoid the use of “classical” accelerometers (i.e., usual force balance technology). The majority of tested seismometers (broadband and short period, even 4.5 Hz) can be used without problems from 0.4 to 25 Hz. In all cases, the instrumentation should be checked first to verify that it works well for the defined study aim, but also to define its limit of use (frequency, sensitivity...).     

地震动加速度反应谱竖向分量与水平分量的比值

本文采用水平向444条,竖向228条严格按我国抗震设计规范划分场地条件的实际强震记录,计算了不同情况下加速度反应谱竖向分量与水平分量的比值(V／H)的平均值,结果表明：(1)V／H随周期变化明显。在短周期,有1个1．0左右的峰值,在周期0．2～1．0间有1个0．4左右的低谷,在2s以后的长周期,V／H趋近1个0．6左右的常数。(2)V／H值与震中距也有很大关系,在震源附近竖向反应谱与水平向反应谱很接近,V／H均值在周期长于2s时达到了0．9。(3)它与场地条件也有很大关系,短周期处,Ⅰ类场地V／H峰值为0．7,Ⅱ、Ⅲ类场地V／H峰值为1．1,长周期处则随场地类别由Ⅰ,Ⅱ到Ⅲ类,V／H由大到小。建议抗震设计规范修订时应考虑对竖向反应谱的规定予以修正,文中给出了建议方案。     

Statistical correlation of earthquake and ambient noise spectral ratios

The Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio from earthquake (HVSR) and from ambient noise (HVN) recordings realistically indicate the fundamental frequency of soil response but, for the majority of the worldwide examined sites, they do not provide reliable amplification curves as calculated by the earthquake standard Spectral Ratio (SSR). Given the fact that HVSR and especially HVN can be easily obtained, it is challenging to search for a meaningful correlation with SSR amplification functions for the entire frequency band and to use the results for the SSR estimate at a further site where only noise measurements are available. To this aim we used recordings from 75 sites worldwide and we applied a multivariate statistical approach (canonical correlation analysis) to investigate and quantify any correlation among spectral ratios. The canonical correlation between SSR and HVN is then used to estimate the expected SSR at each site by a weighted average of the SSR values measured at the other sites; the weights are properly set to account more for sites with similar behaviour in terms of the canonical correlation results between HVN and SSR. This procedure, repeated for all sites in turn, constitutes the basis of a cross validation. The comparison between the inferred and the original SSR highlights the improvements of site response estimation with respect to the use of ambient noise techniques. The goodness and limitations of the reconstruction procedure are explained by specific geological settings.     

竖向与水平向地震动加速度反应谱比特性分析

本文采用全球范围128次地震的3235组三分量强地面运动记录,分析了其加速度竖向分量反应谱与水平分量反应谱的比值(V/H)的总体特征,研究了V/H随震级、震中距、局部场地条件和震源机制的变化关系。研究结果表明:(1)场地越硬,长周期段V/H越大,短周期段则相反;(2)震级越大,长周期段V/H越大,短周期段变化不明显;(3)短周期段V/H随震中距增大而减小;(4)对于大震(M7),长周期段V/H随震中距增大而减小;而对于中强震(M7),比值在近场(R60km)随震中距增加而增大,在远场则随震中距增加而减小;(5)V/H与震源机制也有一定的关系。     

Seismic response of Beirut (Lebanon) buildings: instrumental results from ambient vibrations

Resonance period is a key parameter in the seismic design of a structure, thus dynamic parameters of buildings in Beirut (Lebanon) were investigated based on ambient vibration method for risk and vulnerability assessment. Lebanon is facing high seismic hazard due to its major faults, combined to a high seismic risk caused by dense urbanization in addition to the lack of a seismic design code implementation. For this study, ambient vibration recordings have been performed on 330 RC buildings, period parameters extracted and statistically analyzed to identify correlations with physical building parameters (height, horizontal dimensions, age) and site characteristics (rock sites or soft sites). The study shows that (1) the building height or number of floors (N) is the primary statistically robust parameter for the estimation of the fundamental period T; (2) the correlation between T and N is linear and site dependent: T ≈ N/23 for rock sites and N/18 for soft sites; (3) the measured damping is inversely proportional to the period: the taller the building the lower is the damping; (4) a significant overestimation of the period exists in current building codes. However part of the large discrepancy with building code recommendations may be due to the very low level of loading.     

南北地震带川滇甘陕地区竖向与水平向加速度反应谱比的统计分析

本文收集了从南北地震带川滇甘陕地区263个有详细场地资料的强震台站获得的802组强震动记录,按照场地、震级和震中距等因素统计分析了竖向与水平向加速度反应谱比的形状以及不同场地、震级和震中距下不同周期段内的谱比平均值,并与建筑抗震规范GB50011—2010规定的0.65进行了比较。结果表明:竖向与水平向加速度反应谱比受场地、震级和震中距等因素的影响; Ⅰ类和Ⅱ类场地在全周期段的谱比均值基本上大于0.65;无论何种分组情况谱比均值在0.1—1.0 s周期范围内基本低于定值0.65,周期大于1.0 s的谱比均值基本上远高于0.65。因此对于大部分抗震规范直接把竖向地震作用取为水平向地震作用的0.65倍,有待商榷。本文建议根据水平向反应谱的标定方式来确定现有竖向强震动记录的竖向地震作用。      

Building frequency fluctuations from continuous monitoring of ambient vibrations and their relationship to temperature variations

Building frequencies (fundamental and higher modes) are a critical parameter especially in the field of structural health monitoring mainly based on the stability of the structural dynamic parameters of individual building (frequencies, damping and modes shape). One of the most used methods to find out these parameters is based on the use on ambient vibration analysis. In this work, we study the fluctuations over a month period of the fundamental frequencies (transverse and longitudinal) of a 3.5-story RC-building made of 2 identical units connected by a structural joint. Time independent building frequencies is a strong assumption; as illustrated by our experiment showing that over an observation period of a month, building frequencies fluctuate of about 3.5 %. A clear correlation is found between the building frequency fluctuations and temperature variations, with a phase-shift interpreted as the characteristic time of heat diffusion within the walls. This allows: (1) determining the thermal diffusivity of the structure, (2) inferring its relative stiffness variations, and (3) showing that its Young modulus varies linearly with temperature.     

Linear vertical vibrations of suspension bridges: A review of continuum models and some new results

The classical continuum model for the linear vertical vibrations of a suspension bridge (Bleich et al., 1950 [1]) is re-examined. The primary objective of the study is to extend the definitive analytical and numerical results of Irvine and Caughey (1974) [2], Irvine and Griffin (1976) [3] and Irvine (1980, 1981) [4], [5] for the natural frequencies, mode shapes, and modal participation factors for an extensible suspension cable, which depend on one dimensionless parameter related to the elasticity of the cable, to the case of a stiffened suspension bridge in which the response depends also on a second dimensionless parameter related to the stiffness of the girder. The continuum suspension bridge model is also used to understand the pattern of variation of mode shapes as a function of cable elasticity and girder stiffness, which has been shown by West et al. (1984) [6] to be considerably more complex than that for a suspension cable. Finally, the threshold amplitudes of free vibrations that would result in the incipient slackening of the hangers are determined.     

Proposal of an empirical site classification method based on target simulated horizontal over vertical spectral ratio

Nowadays, most of the site classifications schemes are based on the predominant period of the site as determined from the average horizontal to vertical spectral ratios of seismic motion or microtremor. However, the difficulty lies in the identification of the predominant period in particular if the observed average response spectral ratio does not present a clear peak but rather a broadband amplification or multiple peaks. In this work, based on the Eurocode-8 (2004) site classification, and assuming bounded random fields for both shear and compression waves-velocities, damping coefficient, natural period and depth of soil profile, one propose a new site-classification approach, based on “target” simulated average \( H/V \) spectral ratios, defined for each soil class. Taking advantage of the relationship of Kawase et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 101:2001–2014, 2011), which link the \( H/V \) spectral ratio to the horizontal (\( HTF \)) over the vertical (\( VTF \)) transfer functions, statistics of \( H/V \) spectral ratio via deterministic visco-elastic seismic analysis using the wave propagation theory are computed for the 4 soil classes. The obtained results show that \( H/V \) and \( HTF \) have amplitudes and shapes remarkably different among the four soil classes and exhibit fundamental peaks in the period ranges remarkably similar. Moreover, the “target” simulated average \( H/V \) spectral ratios for the 4 soil classes are in good agreement with the experimental ones obtained by Zhao et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 96:914–925, 2006) from the abundant and reliable Japanese strong motions database Kik-net, Ghasemi et al. (Soil Dyn Earthq Eng 29:121–132, 2009) from the Iranian strong motion data, and Di Alessandro et al. (Bull Sesismol Soc Am 106:2, 2011.  https://doi.org/10.1785/0120110084) from the Italian strong motion data. In addition to the 4 EC-8 standard soil classes (A, B, C and D), the superposition of the 4 target \( H/V \) reveals 3 new boundary site classes; AB, BC and CD, for overlapping \( V_{s,30} \) ranges when the predominant peak is not clearly consistent with any of the 4 proposed classes. Finally, one proposes a site classification index based on the ratio between the cross-correlation and the mean quadratic error between the in situ \( H/V \) spectral ratio and the “target” one. In order to test the reliability of the proposed approach, data from 139 sites were used, 132 collected from the Kik-net network database from Japan and 7 from Algeria. The site classification success rate per site class are around 93, 82, 89 and 100% for rock, hard soil, medium soil and soft soil, respectively. Zhao et al. (2006) found an average success for the 4 classes of soil close to 60%, similar to what one found in the present study (63%) without considering the new soil classes, but much smaller if one considers them (86%). In the absence of \( V_{s,30} \) data, the proposed approach can be an alternative to site classification.     

Demand modulation of water scarcity sensitivities to secular climatic variation: theoretical insights from a computational maquette

ABSTRACT

Increased demand associated with population or economic growth, and decreased supply under some climatic shifts, obviously contribute to water scarcity. As a fresh perspective, we offer a generic theoretical treatment using a computational “maquette”, employing parameterizations to avoid assumptions about the origin and scale of climate and demand changes. The results suggest a distinct (and more subtle) point: the sensitivities of water stress to changes in both the mean and the variance of hydroclimate are modulated by demand level. Theoretical behaviours generated by the reduced-complexity model are surprisingly intricate, including profound nonlinearities and bifurcations. These may form a lower bound on the dynamical complexity of the demand–supply–scarcity nexus. Overall, the outcomes suggest that demand growth substantially intensifies and nonlinearizes water stress sensitivities to secular climate variation, and, in particular, that the interactions between demand changes and second-order hydroclimatic non-stationarity may produce non-intuitive water scarcity impacts requiring much closer study.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR N. Ilich     

Soil characteristics in Doon Valley (north west Himalaya,India) by inversion of H/V spectral ratios from ambient noise measurements

Past and recent observations have shown that the local site conditions significantly affect the behavior of seismic waves and its potential to cause destructive earthquakes. Thus, seismic microzonation studies have become crucial for seismic hazard assessment, providing local soil characteristics that can help to evaluate the possible seismic effects. Among the different methods used for estimating the soil characteristics, the ones based on ambient noise measurements, such as the H/V technique, become a cheap, non-invasive and successful way for evaluating the soil properties along a studied area.In this work, ambient noise measurements were taken at 240 sites around the Doon Valley, India, in order to characterize the sediment deposits. First, the H/V analysis has been carried out to estimate the resonant frequencies along the valley. Subsequently, some of this H/V results have been inverted, using the neighborhood algorithm and the available geotechnical information, in order to provide an estimation of the S-wave velocity profiles at the studied sites.Using all these information, we have characterized the sedimentary deposits in different areas of the Doon Valley, providing the resonant frequency, the soil thickness, the mean S-wave velocity of the sediments, and the mean S-wave velocity in the uppermost 30 m.     

A new technique of interpreting gravity and vertical magnetic anomalies due to infinite horizontal cylindrical ore bodies

Summary A novel method of interpreting gravity and magnetic anomalies is presented here. Two diagrams of master curves, one for gravity and the other for vertical magnetic interpretation are presented. They are useful in calculating the depth of burial and the radius of infinite horizontal cylindrical bodies irrespective of density contrast or strength and direction of magnetisation. This method also enables us to infer the direction of magnetisation, resultant intensity of magnetisation and from them the susceptibility contrast; and density contrast. ThoughHenderson [8]²) reported the applicability of continuations and derivatives in the interpretation of magnetic anomalies for the first time, the authors have treated them in a more exhaustive manner in the present paper to obtain valuable relationships.     

水平摆与垂直摆倾斜仪观测资料干扰特征对比

对青海省格尔木、门源和乐都地震台水平摆与垂直摆倾斜仪观测资料进行对比分析,论述温度、气压、人为活动（工作人员进入观测山洞）以及大风等干扰因素对观测资料的不同影响,发现垂直摆倾斜仪受温度、大风和人为活动等因素的干扰程度总体低于水平摆倾斜仪,对观测环境的要求相对较低。     

青藏高原东缘中下地壳流与地壳变形

地壳缩短导致青藏隆升造山是普遍的认识.然而,在青藏东部,越来越多的观测数据和研究支持了中下地壳流与隆升造山的关系.目前,地壳缩短造山机制和中下地壳流造山机制仍然处于争论之中.本文建立了二维黏弹塑性有限元模型,模拟了龙门山断层带的多个地震循环的应变与变形,探讨了无与有中下地壳流情况下,地壳地表的位移、速度与变形的分布和演化;以及有中下地壳流情况下,不同流动范围、速度与黏度对模型结果的影响;并结合地形变观测数据的约束,推测了青藏东缘中下地壳流的流动状态.模拟结果显示,通过对比有和无中下地壳流的模拟结果,发现青藏东部震间的地表垂向速度在变形样式及数值上存在较大差异,即存在地壳流的地表垂向抬升速率显著大于无地壳流;震间在龙门山断层西侧附近产生的垂向凸状隆起随中下地壳流的速度、黏度及通道长度的变化而变化.此外,本文研究结果对青藏其他地区可能存在的地壳流的研究也具有一定的参考意义.

     

2008年汶川地震近断层竖向与水平向地震动特征

选取分布在北川—映秀中央断裂两侧断层距120 km以内的40个强震动台站的记录,对汶川地震近断层地震动竖向和水平向加速度峰值、速度峰值、竖向和水平向加速度反应谱及谱比值进行了统计分析.研究表明:(1)地震动加速度峰值有显著的上盘效应,经验衰减模型的结果表明,在距地表破裂3~60 km的范围内,龙门山发震断层上盘一侧竖向与水平向的加速度峰值要比衰减模型得到的平均值大30%~40%.上盘的加速度峰值残差大部分是正值,而断层下盘残差大部分为负;水平地震动的东西分量幅值总体要大于南北分量,东西分量衰减相对较慢.(2)地震动长周期成分较弱,加速度反应谱值随周期增大而迅速减小,在周期1.0 s 时,即使在靠近中央断裂的最大加速度反应谱值也只有0.5 g;地震动加速度反应谱谱比值(竖向/水平向)沿龙门山断层周围的分布,在较长周期(T=0.2 s, 0.5 s, 1.0 s)与短周期(T=0.05 s, 0.1 s)有明显的不同.(3)近断层竖向地震动显著,地震动加速度峰值比在(竖向/水平向)可达1.4.在龙门山发震断层的上盘,地震动加速度峰值比整体上比下盘要大,竖向地震动尤为剧烈.部分近断层记录的地震动谱比值(竖向/水平向)在短周期(< 0.1 s)甚至超过1.5,统计分析还表明谱比值在短周期段(< 0.1 s)随断层距的增大而减小.     

Numerical modeling of regional groundwater flow in the Heihe River Basin,China:Advances and new insights

Numerical groundwater modeling is an effective tool to guide water resources management and explore complex groundwater-dependent ecosystems in arid regions.In the Heihe River Basin(HRB),China’s second largest inland river basin located in arid northwest China,a series of groundwater flow models have been developed for those purposes over the past 20 years.These models have elucidated the characteristics of groundwater flow systems and provided the scientific basis for a more sustainable management of groundwater resources and ecosystem services.The first part of this paper presents an overview of previous groundwater modeling studies and key lessons learned based on seven different groundwater models in the middle and lower HRB at sub-basin scales.The second part reviews the rationale for development of a regional basin-scale groundwater flow model that unifies previous sub-basin models.In addition,this paper discusses the opportunities and challenges in developing a regional groundwater flow model in an arid river basin such as the HRB.     

Spatial correlation for horizontal and vertical components of acceleration from northern Iran seismic events

The evaluation of seismic risk of spatially distributed systems requires the spatial correlation model for ground motion intensity measures. This study investigates the spatial correlation of four earthquakes recorded in northern Iran. The intra-event spatial correlation for both horizontal and vertical components of spectral acceleration at eight periods in the range of 0.0–3.0 s is estimated using geostatistical tools. An exponential form is chosen to fit experimental semivariograms, and the correlation ranges of spectral accelerations as a function of period are derived. The results show similar trend of correlation ranges for both components. It should be mentioned that the ranges for the vertical component, in general, are higher than those observed for the horizontal one. For both components, the correlation ranges as a function of period are divided into three segments. The first and the third one are increasing while the second one is decreasing with increasing period.     

Sediment mobility and bed armoring in the St Clair River: insights from hydrodynamic modeling

The lake levels in Lake Michigan‐Huron have recently fallen to near historical lows, as has the elevation difference between Lake Michigan‐Huron compared to Lake Erie. This decline in lake levels has the potential to cause detrimental impacts on the lake ecosystems, together with social and economic impacts on communities in the entire Great Lakes region. Results from past work suggest that morphological changes in the St Clair River, which is the only natural outlet for Lake Michigan‐Huron, could be an appreciable factor in the recent trends of lake level decline. A key research question is whether bed erosion within the river has caused an increase in water conveyance, therefore, contributed to the falling lake level. In this paper, a numerical modeling approach with field data is used to investigate the possibility of sediment movement in the St Clair River and assess the likelihood of morphological change under the current flow regime. A two‐dimensional numerical model was used to study flow structure, bed shear stress, and sediment mobility/armoring over a range of flow discharges. Boundary conditions for the numerical model were provided by detailed field measurements that included high‐resolution bathymetry and three‐dimensional flow velocities. The results indicate that, without considering other effects, under the current range of flow conditions, the shear stresses produced by the river flow are too low to transport most of the coarse bed sediment within the reach and are too low to cause substantial bed erosion or bed scour. However, the detailed maps of the bed show mobile bedforms in the upper St Clair River that are indicative of sediment transport. Relatively high shear stresses near a constriction at the upstream end of the river and at channel bends could cause local scour and deposition. Ship‐induced propeller wake erosion also is a likely cause of sediment movement in the entire reach. Other factors that may promote sediment movement, such as ice cover and dredging in the lower river, require further investigation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Site responses based on ambient vibrations and earthquake data: a case study from the meizoseismal area of the 2001 Bhuj earthquake

The 2001 Mw 7.6 earthquake sourced in the Kachchh rift of northwest India led to extensive damage in the city of Bhuj, located ~70 km southwest of its epicenter. The building stock of this densely populated city was a mix of modern, single, and multistoried structures as well as traditional and non-engineered abodes, most of which were not designed to withstand severe shaking effects. Although there was extensive liquefaction and ground failure in the meizoseismal area, they were not observed in Bhuj, but the damage was severe here. In this study, we apply horizontal to vertical spectral ratio method to ambient vibrations (HVSR-AV) to obtain fundamental resonance frequency (f0) and H/V peak amplitude (A0) to examine if site response had any significant role in the observed damage. The patterns of H/V curves as well as spatial distributions of f0 (0.6–1.4 Hz) and A0 (1.5–4.4) suggest absence of any strong impedance contrast within the subsurface. Similar results obtained for ambient vibrations and earthquake signals suggest the efficacy of the HVSR-AV method as most useful for regions of low-level seismicity. The weathered sandstone that is generally exposed in the city represents the resonating layer whose thickness is approximately estimated as ~66–155 m, based on 1D assumption. The current set of available data precludes any quantitative modeling, but our preliminary inference is that site effects were not significant during the 2001 earthquake damage observed in Bhuj.     

Numerical modeling of vibrations induced by railway traffic in tunnels: From the source to the nearby buildings

In this paper, a numerical approach for the prediction of vibrations induced in buildings due to railway traffic in tunnel is proposed. The numerical method is based on a sub-structuring approach, where the train is simulated by a multi-body model; the track–tunnel–ground system is modeled by a 2.5D FEM–PML approach; and the building by resource to a 3D FEM method. The coupling of the building to the ground is established taking into account the soil–structure-interaction (SSI). The methodology proposed allows dealing with the three-dimensional characteristics of the problem with a reasonable computational effort. Using the proposed model, a numerical study is developed in order to better discern the impact of the use of floating slabs systems for the isolation of vibrations in the tunnel on the dynamic response of a building located in the surrounding of the tunnel. The comparison between isolated and non-isolated scenarios allowed concluding that the mats stiffness is a key parameter on the efficiency of floating slab systems. Furthermore, it was found that the selection of the stiffness of the mats should be performed carefully in order to avoid amplification of vertical vibrations of the slabs of the building.