Stacking of surface waves

Abstract

The seismic surface wave method (SWM) is a powerful means of characterizing near-surface structures. Although the SWM consists of only three steps (data acquisition, determination of dispersion curves, and inversion), it is important to take considerable care with the second step, determination of the dispersion curves. This step is usually completed by spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW) or multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW). However, neither method is ideal, as each has its advantages and disadvantages. SASW provides higher horizontal resolution, but it is very sensitive to coherent noise and individual geophone coupling. MASW is a robust method able to separate different wave types, but its horizontal resolution is lower. Stacking of surface waves (SSW) is a good compromise between SASW and MASW. Using a reduced number of traces increases the horizontal resolution of MASW, and utilizing other shot records with the same receivers compensates for the decreased signal-to-noise ratio. The stacking is realized by summing the [Formula: see text] amplitude spectra of windowed shot records, where windowing produces higher horizontal resolution and stacking produces improved data quality. Mixing is applied between the stacks derived with different parameters, as different frequency ranges require different windowing. SSW was tested and corroborated on a deep seismic data set. Horizontal resolution is validated by [Formula: see text] plots at different frequencies, and [Formula: see text] plots present data quality.