• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-25
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• 2022

The passive surface wave method measures seismic signals from ambient noises or vibrations of natural phenomena without using an artificial source. Since passive sources are usually in lower frequencies than artificial ones being able to ensure the information on deeper geological structures, the passive surface wave method can investigate deeper geological structures. In the passive method, frequency dispersion curves are obtained after data acquisition, and the dispersion curves are analyzed by assuming 1D-layered earth, which is like the method of active surface wave survey. However, when computing dispersion curves, the passive method first obtains and analyzes coherence curves of received signals from a set of receivers based on spatial autocorrelation. In this review, we explain how passive surface wave methods measure signals, and make data processing and interpretation, before analyzing field application cases.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.09a
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• pp.117-123
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• 2005

An in-hole seismic tests, which has been developed for measuring dynamic properties of soils and rock mass, is a bore hole seismic method that has cost effectiveness and practicality. The upgraded features include the motorized triggering system rather than the manual prototype version in the previous studies and a damper between source and receiver in the module. The performance of the probe has been verified through extensive cross-hole tests and in-hole tests at various sites. The dynamic stiffness of subsurface materials and rock mass have been evaluated and recently, the measurement of shear wave velocity was successfully adopted at horizontal holes of tunnel-face to install explosives. So the application of in-hole seismic test for various soil materials was certified.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2007

With consideration of the first arrival picking methodology and inherent errors in picking process, I propose, from the computerization point of view, a practical algorithm for picking and error computation. The proposed picking procedure consists of 2-step; 1) picking the first coherent peak or trough events, 2) derive a line which approximates the record in the interval prior to the pick, and set the intercept time of the line as the first break. The length of fitting interval used in experiment, is few samples less than 1/4 width of the arriving wavelet. A quantitative measure of the error involved in first arrival picking is defined as the time length that needed to determine if an event is the first arrival or not. The time length is expressed as a function of frequency bandwidth of the signal and the S/N ratio. For 3 sets of cross-well seismic data, first breaks are picked twice, by manually, and by the proposed method. And at the same time, the error bound for each trace is computed. Experiment results show that good performance of the proposed picking method, and the usefulness of the quantitative error measure in pick-quality evaluation.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-142
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• 2009

The Tamar rift valley runs through the City of Launceston, Tasmania. Damage has occurred to city buildings due to earthquake activity in Bass Strait. The presence of the ancient valley, the Tamar valley, in-filled with soft sediments that vary rapidly in thickness from 0 to 250mover a few hundreds metres, is thought to induce a 2D resonance pattern, amplifying the surface motions over the valley and in Launceston. Spatially averaged coherency (SPAC), frequency-wavenumber (FK) and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio (HVSR) microtremor survey methods are combined to identify and characterise site effects over the Tamar valley. Passive seismic array measurements acquired at seven selected sites were analysed with SPAC to estimate shear wave velocity (slowness) depth profiles. SPAC was then combined with HVSR to improve the resolution of these profiles in the sediments to an approximate depth of 125 m. Results show that sediments thicknesses vary significantly throughout Launceston. The top layer is composed of as much as 20m of very soft Quaternary alluvial sediments with a velocity from 50 m/s to 125 m/s. Shear-wave velocities in the deeper Tertiary sediment fill of the Tamar valley, with thicknesses from 0 to 250m vary from 400 m/s to 750 m/s. Results obtained using SPAC are presented at two selected sites (GUN and KPK) that agree well with dispersion curves interpreted with FK analysis. FK interpretation is, however, limited to a narrower range of frequencies than SPAC and seems to overestimate the shear wave velocity at lower frequencies. Observed HVSR are also compared with the results obtained by SPAC, assuming a layered earth model, and provide additional constraints on the shear wave slowness profiles at these sites. The combined SPAC and HVSR analysis confirms the hypothesis of a layered geology at the GUN site and indicates the presence of a 2D resonance pattern across the Tamar valley at the KPK site.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.16 no.4 s.50
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• pp.381-392
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• 2006

The passive surface wave survey using microtremor is conducted in areas of crystalline rock basements to obtain average shear-wave velocity structures to 30 m deep (Vs30), on which the earthquake-resistant design standard is based. Test data were recorded at two sites with triangular and L-shaped arrays for 4 seconds with an sampling interval of 2 ms. The microtremor recorded at a site were analysed using the spatial autocorrelation method to obtain phase-velocity spectra and effects of major factors such as size and shape of away and number of record and receiver were examined. At the other site, shear-wave velocities were derived from VSP and microtremor data separately. The results from these two methods agree to each other reasonably well, indicating that the microtremor method can be an effective geophysical tool to measure Vs30.