TY - JOUR A1 - Holschneider, Matthias A1 - Diallo, Mamadou Sanou A1 - Kulesh, Michail A1 - Ohrnberger, Matthias A1 - Luck, E. A1 - Scherbaum, Frank T1 - Characterization of dispersive surface waves using continuous wavelet transforms N2 - In this paper, we propose a method of surface waves characterization based on the deformation of the wavelet transform of the analysed signal. An estimate of the phase velocity (the group velocity) and the attenuation coefficient is carried out using a model-based approach to determine the propagation operator in the wavelet domain, which depends nonlinearly on a set of unknown parameters. These parameters explicitly define the phase velocity, the group velocity and the attenuation. Under the assumption that the difference between waveforms observed at a couple of stations is solely due to the dispersion characteristics and the intrinsic attenuation of the medium, we then seek to find the set of unknown parameters of this model. Finding the model parameters turns out to be that of an optimization problem, which is solved through the minimization of an appropriately defined cost function. We show that, unlike time-frequency methods that exploit only the square modulus of the transform, we can achieve a complete characterization of surface waves in a dispersive and attenuating medium. Using both synthetic examples and experimental data, we also show that it is in principle possible to separate different modes in both the time domain and the frequency domain Y1 - 2005 SN - 0956-540X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wathelet, M. A1 - Jongmans, D. A1 - Ohrnberger, Matthias T1 - Direct inversion of spatial autocorrelation curves with the neighborhood algorithm N2 - Ambient vibration techniques are promising methods for assessing the subsurface structure, in particular the shear-wave velocity profile (V-s). They are based on the dispersion property of surface waves in layered media. Therefore, the penetration depth is intrinsically linked to the energy content of the sources. For ambient vibrations, the spectral content extends in general to lower frequency when compared to classical artificial sources. Among available methods for processing recorded signals, we focus here on the spatial autocorrelation method. For stationary wavefields, the spatial autocorrelation is mathematically related to the frequency-dependent wave velocity c(omega). This allows the determination of the dispersion curve of traveling surface waves, which, in turn, is linked to the V-s profile. Here, we propose a direct inversion scheme for the observed autocorrelation curves to retrieve, in a single step, the V-s profile. The powerful neighborhood algorithm is used to efficiently search for all solutions in an n- dimensional parameter space. This approach has the advantage of taking into account the existing uncertainty over the measured curves, thus generating all V-s profiles that fit the data within their experimental errors. A preprocessing tool is also developed to estimate the validity of the autocorrelation curves and to reject parts of them if necessary before starting the inversion itself. We present two synthetic cases to test the potential of the method: one with ideal autocorrelation curves and another with autocorrelation curves computed from simulated ambient vibrations. The latter case is more realistic and makes it possible to figure out the problems that may be encountered in real experiments. The V-s profiles are correctly retrieved up to the depth of the first major velocity contrast unless low-velocity zones are accepted. We demonstrate that accepting low-velocity zones in the parameterization has a dramatic influence on the result of the inversion, with a considerable increase in the nonuniqueness of the problem. Finally, a real data set is processed with the same method Y1 - 2005 SN - 0037-1106 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krüger, Frank A1 - Ohrnberger, Matthias T1 - Spatio-temporal source characteristics of the 26 December 2004 Sumatra earthquake as imaged by teleseismic broadband arrays N2 - We test the capability of broadband arrays at teleseismic distances to image the spatio-temporal characteristics of the seismic energy release during the Dec 26, 2004 Sumatra earthquake at early observation times. Using a non-plane-wave array location technique previously reported values for rupture length (about 1150 km), duration (about 480 s), and average rupture velocity (2.4-2.7 km/s) are confirmed. Three dominant energy releases are identified: one near the hypocenter, a second at 6 degrees N94 degrees E about 130 s later and a third one after 300 s at 9 degrees N92-93 degrees E. The spatio-temporal distribution of the radiated seismic energy in the source region is calculated from the stacked broadband recordings of two arrays in Germany and Japan and results in rough estimates of the total seismic energy of 0.55.10(18) Nm (GRSN) and 1.53.10(18) Nm (FNET) respectively. Changes in the relative ratio of energy as function of spatio-temporal location indicate a rotation of the focal mechanism during the rupture process Y1 - 2005 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kruger, Frank A1 - Ohrnberger, Matthias T1 - Tracking the rupture of the M-w=9.3 Sumatra earthquake over 1,150 km at teleseismic distance N2 - On 26 December 2004, a moment magnitude M-w = 9.3 earthquake occurred along Northern Sumatra, the Nicobar and Andaman islands, resulting in a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean region(1). The rapid and accurate estimation of the rupture length and direction of such tsunami-generating earthquakes is crucial for constraining both tsunami wave- height models as well as the seismic moment of the events. Compressional seismic waves generated at the hypocentre of the Sumatra earthquake arrived after about 12 min at the broadband seismic stations of the German Regional Seismic Network (GRSN)(2,3), located approximately 9,000 km from the event. Here we present a modification of a standard array- seismological approach and show that it is possible to track the propagating rupture front of the Sumatra earthquake over a total rupture length of 1,150 km. We estimate the average rupture speed to be 2.3-2.7 km s(-1) and the total duration of rupture to be at least 430 s, and probably between 480 and 500 s. Y1 - 2005 SN - 0028-0836 ER -