Spectral analysis and inversion of experimental codas

Abstract

A method developed for the determination of the characteristic lengths of an heterogeneous medium from the spectral analysis of codas is based on an extension of Aki’s theory to anisotropic elastic media. An equivalent Gaussian model is obtained and seems to be in good agreement with the two experimental data sets that illustrate the method. The first set was obtained in a laboratory experiment with an isotropic marble sample. This sample is characterized by a submillimetric length scale that can be directly observed on a thin section. The spectral analysis of codas and their inversion yields an equivalent correlation length that is in good agreement with the observed one. The second data set is obtained in a crosshole experiment at the usual scale of a seismic survey. The codas are recorded, analysed, and inverted. The analysis yields a vertical characteristic length for the studied subsurface that compares well with the characteristic length measured by seismic and stratigraphic logs.