Characterizing Ambient Seismic Noise in an Urban Park Environment

Abstract

In this study, a method for characterizing ambient seismic noise in an urban park using a pair of Tromino3G+ seismographs simultaneously recording high-gain velocity along two axes (north-south and east-west) is presented. The motivation for this study is to provide design parameters for seismic surveys conducted at a site prior to the installation of long-term permanent seismographs. Ambient seismic noise refers to the coherent component of the measured signal that comes from uncontrolled, or passive sources (natural and anthropogenic). Applications of interest include geotechnical studies, modeling the seismic response of infrastructure, surface monitoring, noise mitigation, and urban activity monitoring, which may exploit the use of well-distributed seismograph stations within an area of interest, recording on a days-to-years scale. An ideal well-distributed array of seismographs may not be feasible for all sites and therefore, it is important to identify means for characterizing the ambient seismic noise in urban environments and limitations imposed with a reduced spatial distribution of stations, herein two stations. The developed workflow involves a continuous wavelet transform, peak detection, and event characterization. Events are classified by amplitude, frequency, occurrence time, source azimuth relative to the seismograph, duration, and bandwidth. Depending on the applications, results can guide seismograph selection (sampling frequency and sensitivity) and seismograph placement within the area of interest.