Multimode Rayleigh wave profiling by hybrid surface and borehole methods

To improve the accuracy of shallow seismic shear wave velocity profiling, we propose a minimally invasive hybrid surface-and-borehole method that enhances the detection of higher modes of Rayleigh wave dispersion data. The new method combines techniques from the multichannel analysis of surface waves and multichannel simulation with one receiver (MSOR) methods to record components of Rayleigh wave motion at the surface as well as at shallow depths within the soil mass. The performance of the proposed method is demonstrated through computational and experimental studies. We show that individual modes of Rayleigh waves can exhibit different dominant depths at which their motion is most significant. This is demonstrated through a numerical study of eigenvectors of layered soil profiles via the stiffness matrix method, and confirmed by a finite element simulation of the apparent dispersion trends recorded at shallow depths using MSOR. Upon superimposing dispersion data recorded via the receivers at various depths, the resulting multimode dispersion data is used in a multi-objective inverse analysis, for which the difference between experimental and theoretical dispersive phase-velocity spectra are minimized for multiple modes simultaneously. In the numerical study, we demonstrate that the resulting inverted profiles and theoretical dispersion data have improved accuracy relative to single-mode inversion. Preliminary field tests are performed using the new hybrid method, and the results are shown to support the conclusions of the numerical study and confirm the feasibility of the proposed technique. Although the use of multiple modes in surface wave testing is not new, the proposed hybrid method can provide more accurate and complete multimodal dispersion data than achieved with surface-only Rayleigh wave methods. As a result, errors because of misidentification or partial measurement of higher modes may be minimized, thus reducing statistical uncertainty in the inverted profiles

Improved seismic profiling by minimally invasive multimodal surface wave method with standard penetration test source (MMSW-SPT)

Surface waves propagating in layered media inherently possess multimodal dispersion characteristics. However, traditional surface wave testing methods employing measurements at the free surface usually capture only a single apparent dispersion curve, especially when using short geophone arrays common to near surface and geotechnical-scale investigations. Such single-mode or fragmented multimode apparent dispersion curves contain only a fraction of the possible dispersion information, thus limiting the accuracy of inverted profiles. To enable more robust measurement of higher Rayleigh-wave modes, a recently developed hybrid minimally invasive multimodal surface wave method is combined herein with the widely used geotechnical standard penetration test (SPT), which is employed as a practical and ubiquitous downhole source. Upon superimposing surface wave dispersion data for a range of SPT impact depths within the soil, higher modes can be measured more consistently and reliably relative to traditional non-invasive testing methods. As a result, misidentification of multiple dispersion modes can be practically eliminated, significantly improving the accuracy and certainty of inversion results.This article is published as Shibin Lin, Jeramy C. Ashlock, Improved seismic profiling by minimally invasive multimodal surface wave method with standard penetration test source (MMSW-SPT), Geophysical Journal International, Volume 208, Issue 3, March 2017, Pages 1308–1312, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggw471. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US