Ambient noise as the new source for urban engineering seismology and earthquake engineering: a case study from Beijing metropolitan area

In highly populated urban centers, traditional seismic survey sources can no longer be properly applied due to restrictions in modern civilian life styles. The ambient vibration noise, including both microseisms and microtremor, though are generally weak but available anywhere and anytime, can be an ideal supplementary source for conducting seismic surveys for engineering seismology and earthquake engineering. This is fundamentally supported by advanced digital signal processing techniques for effectively extracting the useful information out from the noise. Thus, it can be essentially regarded as a passive seismic method. In this paper we first make a brief survey of the ambient vibration noise, followed by a quick summary of digital signal processing for passive seismic surveys. Then the applications of ambient noise in engineering seismology and earthquake engineering for urban settings are illustrated with examples from Beijing metropolitan area. For engineering seismology the example is the assessment of site effect in a large area via microtremor observations. For earthquake engineering the example is for structural characterization of a typical reinforced concrete high-rise building using background vibration noise. By showing these examples we argue that the ambient noise can be treated as a new source that is economical, practical, and particularly valuable to engineering seismology and earthquake engineering projects for seismic hazard mitigation in urban areas.     

基于SVD和PCA方法重构干涉格林函数

地震干涉法(SI)是一种用来计算两个信号接收点之间格林函数(GF)的方法,它的基本假设是以其中一个接收点位置为虚拟源,可用来计算两点间震源传播的旅行时间。然而采用直接叠加的方法压制干扰信号,计算得到的干涉格林函数效果不佳,因而计算得到的旅行时间也不够精确。这里基于奇异值分解法(SVD)对叠加前的互相关矩阵进行分解及重构,可以有效压制两点间来自干扰源的信号,再利用主成分分析法(PCA)对固有几何拓扑结构降维特性提取主信号,计算得到新的干涉格林函数。数值模拟及实测数据处理结果表明:使用SVD和PCA综合处理方法,能有效提高干涉格林函数的准确性。     

合成孔径雷达信号子带干涉技术及其应用

分别选用两景Radarsat-2和TerraSAR-X数据,应用子带干涉技术获取夏威夷火山国家公园及其附近区域的沉降量,并将其与偏移跟踪技术结果进行对比,证明了子带干涉技术的地表形变监测能力,且分辨率越高、带宽越宽的TerraSAR-X数据得到的监测精度越高。用两景PALSAR数据,应用子带干涉技术获得唐洞煤矿地表方位向位移,与同期GPS监测数据进行对比,进一步验证了子带干涉技术的形变监测能力。     

Stir bar sorptive extraction-thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: An effective tool for determining persistent organic pollutants and nonylphenol in coastal waters in compliance with existing Directives

A multi-residual method based on stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (SBSE-TD-GC-MS) has been developed to measure 49 organic pollutants (organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and nonylphenol) in seawater. Using 100 ml of water, the method exhibited good linearity, with recoveries between 86% and 118% and relative standard deviation between 2% and 24% for almost all compounds. The method was applied to determine target contaminants in Catalonian seawater, including coastal areas, ports and desalination plant feed water. Overall individual compound levels oscillated between 0.16 and 597 ng l⁻¹; PAHs and nonylpenol were the compounds found at the highest concentrations. The method provided LODs between 0.011 and 2.5 ng l⁻¹, lower than the Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) fixed by Directive 2008/105/EC. In compliance with the directive, this method can be used as a tool to survey target compounds and is aimed at protecting coastal ecosystems from chemical pollution.     

Using blood samples to estimate persistent organic pollutants and metals in green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals have been reported in a number of green turtle (Chelonia mydas) populations worldwide. However, due to ethical considerations, these studies have generally been on tissues from deceased and stranded animals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of blood samples to estimate the tissue contamination of live C. mydas populations. This study analysed 125 POP compounds and eight heavy metals in the blood, liver, kidney and muscle of 16 C. mydas from the Sea World Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Program, Gold Coast, Australia. Strong correlations were observed between blood and tissue concentrations for a number of POPs and metals. Furthermore, these correlations were observed over large ranges of turtle size, sex and condition. These results indicate that blood samples are a reliable non-lethal method for predicting chemical contamination in C. mydas.     

Seismic interferometry by tangent‐phase correction

We present a modified interferometry method based on local tangent‐phase analysis, which corrects the cross‐correlated data before summation. The approach makes it possible to synthesize virtual signals usually vanishing in the conventional seismic interferometry summation. For a given pair of receivers and a set of different source positions, a plurality of virtual traces is obtained at new stationary projected points located along the signal wavefronts passing through the real reference receiver. The position of the projected points is estimated by minimizing travel times using wavefront constraint and correlation‐signal tangent information. The method uses mixed processing, which is partially based on velocity‐model knowledge and on data‐based blind interferometry. The approach can be used for selected events, including reflections with different stationary conditions and projected points with respect to those of the direct arrivals, to extend the interferometry representation in seismic exploration data where conventional illumination coverage is not sufficient to obtain the stationary‐phase condition. We discuss possible applications in crosswell geometry with a velocity anomaly and a time lapse.     

用尾波干涉法监测介质波速变化研究进展

Multiply scattered waves are sensitive to media changes owing to the effect of repeated sampling,superposition and amplification. Based on this characteristic,small-medium changes could be detected by using coda wave interferometry. In recent years,coda wave interferometry has been widely used in estimating velocity variation with high precision in areas such as seismology and non-destructive testing. This paper systematically presents the principle and research status of coda wave interferometry,and especial focus is placed on the research of media velocity variations by using repeating earthquakes,artificial sources,and ambient noise. Applications of coda wave interferometry can contribute to the more subtle understanding of dynamic evolution process in the medium.     

A review of terrestrial radar interferometry for measuring surface change in the geosciences

This paper presents a review of the current state of the art in the use of terrestrial radar interferometry for the detection of surface changes related to mass movement. Different hardware‐types and acquisition concepts are described, which use either real or synthetic aperture for radar image formation. We present approaches for data processing procedures, paying special attention to the separation of high resolution displacement information from atmospheric phase variations. Recent case studies are used to illustrate applications in terrestrial radar interferometry for change detection. Applications range from detection and quantification of very slow moving (millimeters to centimeters per year) displacements in rock walls from repeat monitoring, to rapid processes resulting in fast displacements (~50 m/yr) acquired during single measurement campaigns with durations of only a few hours. Fast and episodic acting processes such as rockfall and snow avalanches can be assessed qualitatively in the spatial domain by mapping decorrelation caused by those processes. A concluding guide to best practice outlines the necessary preconditions that have to be fulfilled for successful application of the technique, as well as in areas characterized by rapid decorrelation. Empirical data from a Ku‐band sensor show the range of temporal decorrelation of different surfaces after more than two years for rock‐surfaces and after a few seconds to minutes in vegetated areas during windy conditions. The examples show that the displacement field can be measured for landslides in dense grassland, ice surfaces on flowing glaciers and snowpack creep. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

High-resolution mm interferometry and the search for massive protostellar disks: the case of Cep-A HW2

The direct detection of accretion onto massive protostars through rotating disks constitutes an important tile in the massive-star-formation-theory mosaic. This task is however observationally very challenging. A very interesting example is Cepheus A HW2. The properties of the molecular emission around this YSO seems to suggest the presence of a massive rotating disk (cf. Patel et al. in Nature 437:109, 2005). We have carried out sub-arcsec-resolution PdBI observations of high-density and shock tracers such as SO₂, SiO, CH₃CN, and CH₃OH towards the center of the outflow. A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution and of the velocity field traced by all observed species leads us to conclude that, on a ∼700 AU scale, the Cep-A “disk” is actually the result of the superposition of multiple hot-core-type objects, at least one of them ejecting an outflow at a small angle with respect to the line of sight. Together with the well-known large-scale outflow ejected by HW2, this setup makes for a very complex spatial and kinematic picture. Based on observations carried out with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. IRAM is supported by INSU/CNRS (France), MPG (Germany) and IGN (Spain).