UAV Seismic Source Traveltime Tomography Technology in Steep Mountainous Areas

Abstract

Active source seismic exploration is one of the most important high-resolution methods to obtain information about underground structures in tunnel engineering, and the seismic source is the key equipment to acquire high-quality data. In steep mountainous areas with complex geological structures, surface undulation, and drastic changes, the use of traditional seismic sources with high cost can seriously affect the efficiency and accuracy of detection. In this paper, a survey experiment of tunnel engineering is carried out in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, completing a fast, high-quality seismic data acquisition through utilizing the convenient, environmentally friendly, and economical UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) seismic source as the shot and wireless node instrument as the receiver. The experiment shows that the UAV seismic source can achieve low-cost and environmentally friendly excitation of seismic waves in complex mountainous areas, making a breakthrough in seismic source equipment. We obtain a high-precision velocity model by traveltime tomography, identifying the thickness of the overburden layer in the study area, and providing an important reference for tunnel engineering.