Verification of correctness of using real part of complex root as Rayleigh-wave phase velocity with synthetic data

High-frequency (≥ 2 Hz) Rayleigh-wave phase velocities have been utilized to determine shear-wave velocities in near-surface geophysics since the early 1980s. One of the key steps is to calculate theoretical dispersion curves of an earth model. When the earth model contains a low-velocity half-space, however, some roots of the dispersion equation turn out to be complex numbers, which makes phase velocities disappear at some frequencies. When encountering this situation, the common practice is to append an additional high velocity layer as the half-space to the model to make the roots real or use the real parts of complex roots as Rayleigh-wave phase velocities. The correctness of the first method has been verified. The correctness of the second method, however, remains to be unproved. We use synthetic data generated by numerical modeling of the wave equation to verify the correctness of the second method. In this paper, we firstly discuss the reasons that only complex numbers of the dispersion equation exist at some frequencies when an earth model contains a low velocity half-space. Then we discuss how the nearest offset affects a synthetic model and recommend an optimal nearest offset in generating synthetic data that are close to real-world situations. Several synthetic models are used to verify correctness of using real parts of complex roots as Rayleigh-wave phase velocities when an earth model contains a low velocity layer as the half-space.     

高频面波方法的若干新进展

面波多道分析方法(MASW)通过分析高频瑞雷波确定浅地表剪切波速度.在过去的20年中,由于该方法具有非侵入性、无损、高效及价格低的特点,越来越受到浅地表地球物理和地质工程学界的重视,视为未来最有希望的技术之一.这篇综述论文将介绍中国地质大学(武汉)浅地表地球物理团队近年来在研究高频面波的传播理论和应用中取得的部分成果.非几何波是一种仅存在于浅地表介质,尤其是未固结的沉积物中的独特的地震波.它的存在对快速而准确地获得表层S波速度有一定价值.我们的研究表明非几何波是一种具有频散特性的泄漏波.泄漏波的存在可能导致将其误认为瑞雷波的基阶或高阶能量,从而造成模式误判.这种模式误判会导致错误的反演结果.我们通过求取高基阶分离后的瑞雷波格林函数证明虚震源法瑞雷波勘探的可行性.这个结果将极大地降低野外瑞雷波勘探成本.勒夫波多道分析方法(MALW)中未知参数比瑞雷波的少,这使得勒夫波的频散曲线比瑞雷波的简单.因此,勒夫波反演更稳定,非唯一性更低.勒夫波数据生成的能量图像通常比瑞雷波的清晰,并具有更高的分辨率,从而可以更容易地拾取精确的勒夫波的相速度.利用雅克比矩阵分析波长与探测深度的关系表明对相同波长的基阶模式而言,瑞雷波的探测深度是勒夫波的1.3~1.4倍;而两种波的相同波长的高阶模式波的探测深度相同.我们也尝试了时间域勒夫波反演.按照勒夫波分辨率将地球模型剖分成了不同尺寸的块体,利用反卷积消除了地震子波对勒夫波波形的影响,通过更新每个块体的S波速度来拟合勒夫波波形,从而获得地下S波速度模型.该方法不基于水平层状模型假设,适用于任意二维介质模型.     

Estimation of Elastic Moduli in a Compressible Gibson Half-space by Inverting Rayleigh-wave Phase Velocity

A Gibson half-space model (a non-layered Earth model) has the shear modulus varying linearly with depth in an inhomogeneous elastic half-space. In a half-space of sedimentary granular soil under a geostatic state of initial stress, the density and the Poisson’s ratio do not vary considerably with depth. In such an Earth body, the dynamic shear modulus is the parameter that mainly affects the dispersion of propagating waves. We have estimated shear-wave velocities in the compressible Gibson half-space by inverting Rayleigh-wave phase velocities. An analytical dispersion law of Rayleigh-type waves in a compressible Gibson half-space is given in an algebraic form, which makes our inversion process extremely simple and fast. The convergence of the weighted damping solution is guaranteed through selection of the damping factor using the Levenberg-Marquardt method. Calculation efficiency is achieved by reconstructing a weighted damping solution using singular value decomposition techniques. The main advantage of this algorithm is that only three parameters define the compressible Gibson half-space model. Theoretically, to determine the model by the inversion, only three Rayleigh-wave phase velocities at different frequencies are required. This is useful in practice where Rayleigh-wave energy is only developed in a limited frequency range or at certain frequencies as data acquired at manmade structures such as dams and levees. Two real examples are presented and verified by borehole S-wave velocity measurements. The results of these real examples are also compared with the results of the layered-Earth model.     

黏弹性介质瑞雷波有限差分模拟与特性分析

本文通过数值模拟研究了介质黏弹性对瑞雷波传播的影响.模拟采用结合了交错Adams-Bashforth时间积分法、应力镜像法和多轴完美匹配层的标准交错网格高阶有限差分方案.通过模拟结果和理论结果对比,测试了方法的精度,验证了结果的正确性.在均匀半空间模型中,分别从波场快照、波形曲线及频散能量图三个角度,对黏弹性介质瑞雷波衰减和频散特性进行了详细分析.两层速度递增模型被用于进一步分析瑞雷波在黏弹性层状介质中的特性.结果表明：由于介质的黏弹性,瑞雷波振幅发生衰减,高频成分比低频成分衰减更剧烈,衰减程度随偏移距增大而增强;瑞雷波相速度发生频散,且随频率增大而增大,频散能量的分辨率有所降低;黏弹性波动方程中的参考频率,不会影响瑞雷波振幅衰减和相速度频散的程度,但决定了黏弹性和弹性介质瑞雷波相速度相等的频率位置.本研究有助于人们更好地理解地球介质中瑞雷波的行为,并为瑞雷波勘探的应用和研究提供了科学和有价值的参考.     

Joint inversion of high-frequency surface waves with fundamental and higher modes

Joint inversion of multimode surface waves for estimating the shear (S)-wave velocity has received much attention in recent years. In this paper, we first analyze sensitivity of phase velocities of multimodes of surface waves for a six-layer earth model, and then we invert surface-wave dispersion curves of the theoretical model and a real-world example. Sensitivity analysis shows that fundamental mode data are more sensitive to the S-wave velocities of shallow layers and are concentrated on a very narrow frequency band, while higher mode data are more sensitive to the parameters of relatively deeper layers and are distributed over a wider frequency band. These properties provide a foundation of using a multimode joint inversion to define S-wave velocities. Inversion results of both synthetic data and a real-world example demonstrate that joint inversion with the damped least-square method and the singular-value decomposition technique to invert high-frequency surface waves with fundamental and higher mode data simultaneously can effectively reduce the ambiguity and improve the accuracy of S-wave velocities.     

Dipping-interface Mapping Using Mode-separated Rayleigh Waves

Multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method is a non-invasive geophysical technique that uses the dispersive characteristic of Rayleigh waves to estimate a vertical shear (S)-wave velocity profile. A pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section is constructed by aligning 1D S-wave velocity profiles at the midpoint of each receiver spread that are contoured using a spatial interpolation scheme. The horizontal resolution of the section is therefore most influenced by the receiver spread length and the source interval. Based on the assumption that a dipping-layer model can be regarded as stepped flat layers, high-resolution linear Radon transform (LRT) has been proposed to image Rayleigh-wave dispersive energy and separate modes of Rayleigh waves from a multichannel record. With the mode-separation technique, therefore, a dispersion curve that possesses satisfactory accuracy can be calculated using a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. In this study, using synthetic models containing a dipping layer with a slope of 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 degrees and a real-world example, we assess the ability of using high-resolution LRT to image and separate fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves from raw surface-wave data and accuracy of dispersion curves generated by a pair of consecutive traces within a mode-separated shot gather. Results of synthetic and real-world examples demonstrate that a dipping interface with a slope smaller than 15 degrees can be successfully mapped by separated fundamental waves using high-resolution LRT.     

Approximation to Cutoffs of Higher Modes of Rayleigh Waves for a Layered Earth Model

A cutoff defines the long-period termination of a Rayleigh-wave higher mode and, therefore is a key characteristic of higher mode energy relationship to several material properties of the subsurface. Cutoffs have been used to estimate the shear-wave velocity of an underlying half space of a layered earth model. In this study, we describe a method that replaces the multilayer earth model with a single surface layer overlying the half-space model, accomplished by harmonic averaging of velocities and arithmetic averaging of densities. Using numerical comparisons with theoretical models validates the single-layer approximation. Accuracy of this single-layer approximation is best defined by values of the calculated error in the frequency and phase velocity estimate at a cutoff. Our proposed method is intuitively explained using ray theory. Numerical results indicate that a cutoffs frequency is controlled by the averaged elastic properties within the passing depth of Rayleigh waves and the shear-wave velocity of the underlying half space.     

Data-resolution Matrix and Model-resolution Matrix for Rayleigh-wave Inversion Using a Damped Least-squares Method

Inversion of multimode surface-wave data is of increasing interest in the near-surface geophysics community. For a given near-surface geophysical problem, it is essential to understand how well the data, calculated according to a layered-earth model, might match the observed data. A data-resolution matrix is a function of the data kernel (determined by a geophysical model and a priori information applied to the problem), not the data. A data-resolution matrix of high-frequency (≥2 Hz) Rayleigh-wave phase velocities, therefore, offers a quantitative tool for designing field surveys and predicting the match between calculated and observed data. We employed a data-resolution matrix to select data that would be well predicted and we find that there are advantages of incorporating higher modes in inversion. The resulting discussion using the data-resolution matrix provides insight into the process of inverting Rayleigh-wave phase velocities with higher-mode data to estimate S-wave velocity structure. Discussion also suggested that each near-surface geophysical target can only be resolved using Rayleigh-wave phase velocities within specific frequency ranges, and higher-mode data are normally more accurately predicted than fundamental-mode data because of restrictions on the data kernel for the inversion system. We used synthetic and real-world examples to demonstrate that selected data with the data-resolution matrix can provide better inversion results and to explain with the data-resolution matrix why incorporating higher-mode data in inversion can provide better results. We also calculated model-resolution matrices in these examples to show the potential of increasing model resolution with selected surface-wave data.     

Pseudospectral modeling and dispersion analysis of Rayleigh waves in viscoelastic media

Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) is one of the most widely used techniques in environmental and engineering geophysics to determine shear-wave velocities and dynamic properties, which is based on the elastic layered system theory. Wave propagation in the Earth, however, has been recognized as viscoelastic and the propagation of Rayleigh waves presents substantial differences in viscoelastic media as compared with elastic media. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out numerical simulation and dispersion analysis of Rayleigh waves in viscoelastic media to better understand Rayleigh-wave behaviors in the real world. We apply a pseudospectral method to the calculation of the spatial derivatives using a Chebyshev difference operator in the vertical direction and a Fourier difference operator in the horizontal direction based on the velocity–stress elastodynamic equations and relations of linear viscoelastic solids. This approach stretches the spatial discrete grid to have a minimum grid size near the free surface so that high accuracy and resolution are achieved at the free surface, which allows an effective incorporation of the free surface boundary conditions since the Chebyshev method is nonperiodic. We first use an elastic homogeneous half-space model to demonstrate the accuracy of the pseudospectral method comparing with the analytical solution, and verify the correctness of the numerical modeling results for a viscoelastic half-space comparing the phase velocities of Rayleigh wave between the theoretical values and the dispersive image generated by high-resolution linear Radon transform. We then simulate three types of two-layer models to analyze dispersive-energy characteristics for near-surface applications. Results demonstrate that the phase velocity of Rayleigh waves in viscoelastic media is relatively higher than in elastic media and the fundamental mode increases by 10–16% when the frequency is above 10 Hz due to the velocity dispersion of P and S waves.     

Generation of a pseudo-2D shear-wave velocity section by inversion of a series of 1D dispersion curves

Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves utilizes a multichannel recording system to estimate near-surface shear (S)-wave velocities from high-frequency Rayleigh waves. A pseudo-2D S-wave velocity (v_S) section is constructed by aligning 1D models at the midpoint of each receiver spread and using a spatial interpolation scheme. The horizontal resolution of the section is therefore most influenced by the receiver spread length and the source interval. The receiver spread length sets the theoretical lower limit and any v_S structure with its lateral dimension smaller than this length will not be properly resolved in the final v_S section. A source interval smaller than the spread length will not improve the horizontal resolution because spatial smearing has already been introduced by the receiver spread.In this paper, we first analyze the horizontal resolution of a pair of synthetic traces. Resolution analysis shows that (1) a pair of traces with a smaller receiver spacing achieves higher horizontal resolution of inverted S-wave velocities but results in a larger relative error; (2) the relative error of the phase velocity at a high frequency is smaller than at a low frequency; and (3) a relative error of the inverted S-wave velocity is affected by the signal-to-noise ratio of data. These results provide us with a guideline to balance the trade-off between receiver spacing (horizontal resolution) and accuracy of the inverted S-wave velocity. We then present a scheme to generate a pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section with high horizontal resolution using multichannel records by inverting high-frequency surface-wave dispersion curves calculated through cross-correlation combined with a phase-shift scanning method. This method chooses only a pair of consecutive traces within a shot gather to calculate a dispersion curve. We finally invert surface-wave dispersion curves of synthetic and real-world data. Inversion results of both synthetic and real-world data demonstrate that inverting high-frequency surface-wave dispersion curves – by a pair of traces through cross-correlation with phase-shift scanning method and with the damped least-square method and the singular-value decomposition technique – can feasibly achieve a reliable pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section with relatively high horizontal resolution.     

利用SPAC法估算地壳S波速度结构

S波速度结构能够反映地球介质的物性差异,是地壳内低速区结构特征判别的重要依据.本文尝试利用空间自相关法(SPAC法)从地震台站微动信号的垂直分量中提取瑞利波相速度频散曲线,通过对频散曲线的反演获得地下介质的S波速度结构.以国家数字测震台网8个宽频带地震台站的实测微动数据为例,采用SPAC方法获得了首都圈地区北京附近约30 km 深度范围内的一维S波速度结构.结果表明,该区结晶基底埋深较浅约2 km;分别在5~8 km 和12~16 km 深处发育S波低速层;8 km 和 20 km 处是S波速度差异较大的速度分界面.这一结果与以往地震学及人工地震探测结果较为吻合,表明SPAC法估算地壳S波速度结构是可行、有效的.     

Advantages of Using Multichannel Analysis of Love Waves (MALW) to Estimate Near-Surface Shear-Wave Velocity

As theory dictates, for a series of horizontal layers, a pure, plane, horizontally polarized shear (SH) wave refracts and reflects only SH waves and does not undergo wave-type conversion as do incident P or Sv waves. This is one reason the shallow SH-wave refraction method is popular. SH-wave refraction method usually works well defining near-surface shear-wave velocities. Only first arrival information is used in the SH-wave refraction method. Most SH-wave data contain a strong component of Love-wave energy. Love waves are surface waves that are formed from the constructive interference of multiple reflections of SH waves in the shallow subsurface. Unlike Rayleigh waves, the dispersive nature of Love waves is independent of P-wave velocity. Love-wave phase velocities of a layered earth model are a function of frequency and three groups of earth properties: SH-wave velocity, density, and thickness of layers. In theory, a fewer parameters make the inversion of Love waves more stable and reduce the degree of nonuniqueness. Approximating SH-wave velocity using Love-wave inversion for near-surface applications may become more appealing than Rayleigh-wave inversion because it possesses the following three advantages. (1) Numerical modeling results suggest the independence of P-wave velocity makes Love-wave dispersion curves simpler than Rayleigh waves. A complication of “Mode kissing” is an undesired and frequently occurring phenomenon in Rayleigh-wave analysis that causes mode misidentification. This phenomenon is less common in dispersion images of Love-wave energy. (2) Real-world examples demonstrated that dispersion images of Love-wave energy have a higher signal-to-noise ratio and more focus than those generated from Rayleigh waves. This advantage is related to the long geophone spreads commonly used for SH-wave refraction surveys, images of Love-wave energy from longer offsets are much cleaner and sharper than for closer offsets, which makes picking phase velocities of Love waves easier and more accurate. (3) Real-world examples demonstrated that inversion of Love-wave dispersion curves is less dependent on initial models and more stable than Rayleigh waves. This is due to Love-wave’s independence of P-wave velocity, which results in fewer unknowns in the MALW method compared to inversion methods of Rayleigh waves. This characteristic not only makes Love-wave dispersion curves simpler but also reduces the degree of nonuniqueness leading to more stable inversion of Love-wave dispersion curves.     

Experimental determination of Rayleigh-wave mode velocities using the method of wave number analysis

A method is presented to determine experimentally phase and group velocity dispersion curves of propagating Rayleigh-wave modes. Through the application of the Fourier transform method wave number spectra of surface displacements due to wave propagation along a line are constructed. The dominant peaks in the wave number spectra together with their corresponding wave numbers are identified. From the latter the phase velocities, which correspond to the wave modes present, are calculated. The phase and group velocity dispersion curves of wave modes are determined from repeated experiments with different frequencies of excitation. This method to determine the frequency-dependent Rayleighwave velocities solves the problem of non-linear phase changes between surface points in contrast to the conventional phase difference methods which assume linear phase changes.     

Rayleigh波勘探中“之”字形频散曲线“起跳点”频率研究

当层状介质中存在低速层的时候,实际提取到的Rayleigh波频散曲线往往会发生“之”字形回折.已有研究表明,“之”字形回折与各模式的激发能量有关.特别的,“之”字形回折的“起跳点”(发生“之”字形回折的点)与介质参数有一定关系,因此在应用中它反映了介质的一些特征.但是,这一关系是怎样的还没有人进行详细研究.本文计算了三...     

Research on the middle-of-receiver-spread assumption of the MASW method

The multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) method has been effectively used to determine near-surface shear- (S-) wave velocity. Estimating the S-wave velocity profile from Rayleigh-wave measurements is straightforward. A three-step process is required to obtain S-wave velocity profiles: acquisition of a multiple number of multichannel records along a linear survey line by use of the roll-along mode, extraction of dispersion curves of Rayleigh waves, and inversion of dispersion curves for an S-wave velocity profile for each shot gather. A pseudo-2D S-wave velocity section can be generated by aligning 1D S-wave velocity models. In this process, it is very important to understand where the inverted 1D S-wave velocity profile should be located: the midpoint of each spread (a middle-of-receiver-spread assumption) or somewhere between the source and the last receiver. In other words, the extracted dispersion curve is determined by the geophysical structure within the geophone spread or strongly affected by the source geophysical structure. In this paper, dispersion curves of synthetic datasets and a real-world example are calculated by fixing the receiver spread and changing the source location. Results demonstrate that the dispersion curves are mainly determined by structures within a receiver spread.     

Dispersion Energy Analysis of Rayleigh and Love Waves in the Presence of Low-Velocity Layers in Near-Surface Seismic Surveys

High-frequency surface-wave analysis methods have been effectively and widely used to determine near-surface shear (S) wave velocity. To image the dispersion energy and identify different dispersive modes of surface waves accurately is one of key steps of using surface-wave methods. We analyzed the dispersion energy characteristics of Rayleigh and Love waves in near-surface layered models based on numerical simulations. It has been found that if there is a low-velocity layer (LVL) in the half-space, the dispersion energy of Rayleigh or Love waves is discontinuous and ‘‘jumping’’ appears from the fundamental mode to higher modes on dispersive images. We introduce the guided waves generated in an LVL (LVL-guided waves, a trapped wave mode) to clarify the complexity of the dispersion energy. We confirm the LVL-guided waves by analyzing the snapshots of SH and P–SV wavefield and comparing the dispersive energy with theoretical values of phase velocities. Results demonstrate that LVL-guided waves possess energy on dispersive images, which can interfere with the normal dispersion energy of Rayleigh or Love waves. Each mode of LVL-guided waves having lack of energy at the free surface in some high frequency range causes the discontinuity of dispersive energy on dispersive images, which is because shorter wavelengths (generally with lower phase velocities and higher frequencies) of LVL-guided waves cannot penetrate to the free surface. If the S wave velocity of the LVL is higher than that of the surface layer, the energy of LVL-guided waves only contaminates higher mode energy of surface waves and there is no interlacement with the fundamental mode of surface waves, while if the S wave velocity of the LVL is lower than that of the surface layer, the energy of LVL-guided waves may interlace with the fundamental mode of surface waves. Both of the interlacements with the fundamental mode or higher mode energy may cause misidentification for the dispersion curves of surface waves.     

Simple equations guide high-frequency surface-wave investigation techniques

We discuss five useful equations related to high-frequency surface-wave techniques and their implications in practice. These equations are theoretical results from published literature regarding source selection, data-acquisition parameters, resolution of a dispersion curve image in the frequency–velocity domain, and the cut-off frequency of high modes. The first equation suggests Rayleigh waves appear in the shortest offset when a source is located on the ground surface, which supports our observations that surface impact sources are the best source for surface-wave techniques. The second and third equations, based on the layered earth model, reveal a relationship between the optimal nearest offset in Rayleigh-wave data acquisition and seismic setting—the observed maximum and minimum phase velocities, and the maximum wavelength. Comparison among data acquired with different offsets at one test site confirms the better data were acquired with the suggested optimal nearest offset. The fourth equation illustrates that resolution of a dispersion curve image at a given frequency is directly proportional to the product of a length of a geophone array and the frequency. We used real-world data to verify the fourth equation. The last equation shows that the cut-off frequency of high modes of Love waves for a two-layer model is determined by shear-wave velocities and the thickness of the top layer. We applied this equation to Rayleigh waves and multi-layer models with the average velocity and obtained encouraging results. This equation not only endows with a criterion to distinguish high modes from numerical artifacts but also provides a straightforward means to resolve the depth to the half space of a layered earth model.     

层状黏弹性介质中Rayleigh波频散曲线“交叉”现象分析

Rayleigh波勘探方法在探测近地表横波速度、动力学特征等环境与工程地球物理领域获得了广泛应用.这种方法以弹性层状介质理论为基础,然而实际介质具有黏弹性,研究面波在层状黏弹性介质中的传播特征,将为近地表面波勘探提供有益帮助.在某些弹性层状介质模型中,例如存在低速夹层和强波阻抗差异地层模型,Rayleigh波相邻两条频散曲线彼此会非常靠近,产生看似彼此"交叉"的现象,即"osculation"现象,但对于黏弹性介质中的这种现象并没有进行相关的研究.本文利用Muller法计算层状黏弹性介质Rayleigh波频散方程,基于层状介质模型中Rayleigh波频散和衰减曲线连续的性质,结合本征位移曲线特征,分析二层黏弹性介质模型中Rayleigh波频散曲线"交叉"现象以及"交叉"点附近的波动特性.结果表明:与弹性介质相比,黏弹性介质中Rayleigh波的波动特性存在明显差异,随着介质对地震波的损耗越来越强,将导致Rayleigh波频散曲线发生"交叉"现象.     

基于快速广义反射透射系数方法的面波群速度计算

在利用实际地震资料反演地球内部结构时,群速度往往比相速度更有意义.本文在水平层状均匀介质模型中,用快速广义反射透射系数方法（Pei,2008）计算了基阶瑞雷面波的群速度,并推导了Chen(1993) 4×4 层矩阵E的逆的解析表达式.文中用数值实验的方法合成了两个典型模型的群速度频散曲线,并与复合矩阵方法计算的结果进行了对比,结果表明本文的方法是切实可行的,与广义反射透射系数方法相比明显地提高了计算效率,尤其是在高频、层厚度大和层数多的情况下表现得更为突出.     

利用Rayleigh波反演浅土层的剪切波速度结构

根据均匀半空间Rayleigh波相速度与介质剪切波速度之间的关系,对某一频率面波的影响深度内各层介质进行"均匀"化,使其等效于均匀半空间．并利用模型进行正演,以确定在这种均匀化的前提下,面波勘探深度与波长的关系．应用相匹配滤波技术从实测面波信号中分离出基阶Rayleigh波信号,对它进行多重滤波和叠加处理,精确地计算出5．0-30．0Hz之间的基阶面波相、群速度频散．使用"均匀"化的方法,从相速度频散曲线中获得反演的初始模型,利用群速度频散反演得到35m以上各土层的剪切波速度结构．结果表明,反演结果与钻孔资料较为吻合