S-and P-wave velocity model estimation from seismic surface-waves

Abstract

The surface-waves methods are well-established techniques for subsurface S-wave velocity (VS) reconstruction. Recently, the sensitivity of surface-wave skin depth to Poisson ratio was applied to also estimate P-wave velocity (VP) models from surface-wave records. We use this technique within the framework of three surface-wave methods, the wavelength/depth data transform, the laterally constrained inversion, and surface-wave tomography to estimate both VS and VP models. We apply these methods to a 3-D test data set from a mining site that is characterized by stiff material and by significant elevation contrast. The data were recorded using a regular grid of receivers and an irregular source layout. Pseudo 3D VS and VP models were obtained down to 140 m depth over approximately 900 × 1500 m2 area. The estimated models from the methods well-match the geological information available for the site. Less than 6 % difference is observed between the estimated VS models from the three methods, whereas this value is 7.1 % for the retrieved VP models. The different methods are critically compared in terms of resolution and efficiency.