New techniques for the determination of surface wave phase velocities

Abstract

abstract A number of new techniques have been developed for the determination of phase velocities from the digitized seismograms from pairs of stations. One of these techniques is to Fourier analyze the sum (or difference) of the two seismograms after time shifting in steps to correspond to steps in phase velocity. The amplitude of the summed seismogram is a maximum for any particular period when both seismograms are in phase at that period. Another method is to pass both seismograms through a narrow bandpass digital filter centered at various periods and form the cross product of the filtered seismograms, after time shifting. The average of the resultant time series is a maximum when the two signals are in phase. The computer output is a matrix consisting of amplitudes or averages as a function of phase velocity and period. The phase velocity dispersion is determined from the contoured matrix. Using these techniques, interstation phase velocities of Rayleigh waves have been determined for the “World Wide Network Standard Stations” at Pretoria, Bulawayo and Windhoek. The method using cross-products is the most efficient.