Source time-function as discriminant using empirical Green’s function

Since the sign up of CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty), the nuclear monitoring and distinguishing has gained great attention by the treaty countries. Seismology is one of the primary technical means available for monitoring compliance to a CTBT. However, there does not exist a single criterion, so far, that can effectively distinguish explorations from earthquakes. It has been known that source time function (abbreviated to STF) of an underground nuclear explosion contains important p…

Source time-function as discriminant using empirical Green’s function

The source mechanism of underground nuclear explosions is remarkably different from that of earthquakes in both spatial radiation pattern and source time-function (STF). Small underground nuclear explosions can be used as empirical Green’s functions (EGF) to isolate the source-time spectrum of a large suspected earthquake occurred in a Nuclear Test Site (target area) by the spectral division method. As this study shows, with high-quality data, the quotient spectrum can be transformed to the time domain, yielding the apparent far-field source-time function of the large suspected event. The relative source time-function (RSTF) of a nuclear explosion is usually a simple pulse with a duration of about 1 s., while an earthquake’s is more complicated with a series of pulses and a longer duration. The RSTF can be used as a nice discriminant to distinguish the nature earthquakes from underground nuclear explosions in target areas.