Detection of regional phases of seismic body waves using an array of three-component sensors

Abstract

A small-aperture seismic array consisting of seven three-component seismometers carried out continuous measurements of regional seismicity in a selected area of the Nizhni Novgorod nuclear power plant during four months of 2013. Automatic signal detection using beamforming was applied separately for each motion component. Two horizontal components were transformed into radial and transverse components for the given values of the velocity and azimuth of the plane wave front. We have investigated the dependence of the coherence of microseismic noise on frequency, azimuth, and slowness, as well as determining the level of cross-correlation between signals on separate channels in order to estimate expected improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio, which is crucial for signal detection. Most signals detected by the seismic array from regional sources are associated with quarry blasts. Using repetitive explosions at seven quarries, we have quantitatively estimated and compared the increase in detection efficiency of regional seismic phases using a three-component small aperture seismic array and a subarray of vertical sensors. Horizontal sensors showed a higher efficiency in the detection of transverse waves, while the subarray of vertical sensors missed S-waves from certain events. For one of the nearby quarries, the vertical subarray missed up to 25% of events (5 of 20). The results of the investigation point to the need for the use of three-component seismic arrays for the study of regional seismicity.