Broadband Love Wave Phase Velocity Maps Based on Modified Double‐Beamforming of Ambient Noise Cross‐Correlations

Abstract

AbstractAmbient noise tomography has become a popular method in the past two decades to image the crust and uppermost mantle structure. To date, broadband Rayleigh wave signals can be obtained from ambient noise, which can be utilized to study the earth's interior structure from the surface down to ∼200–300 km depths. However, it is hard to extract intermediate‐ and long‐period (>50 s) Love wave signals from ambient noise using conventional data processing techniques for ambient noise. Array‐based data processing techniques can enhance weak signals. In this study, we adopt a modified algorithm of the double‐beamforming method to extract broadband Love wave signals from ambient noise. We validate the accuracy of the dispersion curves measured from our method by comparing them to those measured from the conventional method. Then, we use a finite frequency ambient noise tomography method to construct broadband Love wave phase velocity maps across the contiguous USA. These phase velocity maps are consistent with those obtained from conventional methods at short periods (<40 s). Finally, we analyze the resolution of our double‐beamforming method based on checkerboard tests and find that the resolution of phase velocity maps based on our method is close to the aperture of the subarrays used in our double‐beamforming method.