Vertical-to-horizontal response spectral ratio for offshore ground motions:Analysis and simplified design equation

In order to study the differences in vertical component between onshore and offshore motions,the vertical-to-horizontal peak ground acceleration ratio(V/H PGA ratio) and vertical-to-horizontal response spectral ratio(V/H) were investigated using the ground motion recordings from the K-NET network and the seafloor earthquake measuring system(SEMS).The results indicate that the vertical component of offshore motions is lower than that of onshore motions.The V/H PGA ratio of acceleration time histories at offshore stations is about 50%of the ratio at onshore stations.The V/H for offshore ground motions is lower than that for onshore motions,especially for periods less than 0.8 s.Furthermore,based on the results in statistical analysis for offshore recordings in the K-NET,the simplified V/H design equations for offshore motions in minor and moderate earthquakes are proposed for seismic analysis of offshore structures.

Detection of Internal Leaf Structure Deterioration Using a New Spectral Ratio Index in the Near-Infrared Shoulder Region

Spectral reflectance in the near-infrared （NIR） shoulder （750-900 nm） region is affected by internal leaf structure, but it has rarely been investigated. In this study, a dehydration treatment and three paraquat herbicide applications were conducted to explore how spectral reflectance and shape in the NIR shoulder region responded to various stresses. A new spectral ratio index in the NIR shoulder region （NSRI）, defined by a simple ratio of reflectance at 890 nm to reflectance at 780 nm, was proposed for assessing leaf structure deterioration. Firstly, a wavelength-independent increase in spectral reflectance in the NIR shoulder region was observed from the mature leaves with slight dehydration. An increase in spectral slope in the NIR shoulder would be expected only when water stress developed sufficiently to cause severe leaf dehydration resulting in an alteration in cell structure. Secondly, the alteration of leaf cell structure caused by Paraquat herbicide applications resulted in a wavelength-dependent variation of spectral reflectance in the NIR shoulder region. The NSRI in the NIR shoulder region increased significantly under an herbicide application. Although the dehydration process also occurred with the herbicide injury, NSRI is more sensitive to herbicide injury than the water-related indices （water index and normalized difference water index） and normalized difference vegetation index. Finally, the sensitivity of NSRI to stripe rust in winter wheat was examined, yielding a determination coefficient of 0.61, which is more significant than normalized difference vegetation index （NDVI）, water index （WI） and normalized difference water index （NDWI）, with a determination coefficient of 0.45, 0.36 and 0.13, respectively. In this study, all experimental results demonstrated that NSRI will increase with internal leaf structure deterioration, and it is also a sensitive spectral index for herbicide injury or stripe rust in winter wheat.

Estimating the site effects in Luoyang basin using horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method from a short-period dense array

The influence of local site effects on seismic ground motions is an important issue in seismic hazard assessment and earthquake resistant design. Determining site effects in densely populated cities built on basins can help to reduce the earthquake hazard. Site effects of Luoyang basin are estimated by the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio(HVSR) method using ambient noise records from a short-period dense array. The sites in Luoyang basin are sorted into three types according to the pattern of the HVSR curves. There are cases with a single clear peak, two clear peaks, and an unclear low frequency peak or multiple peaks, which correspond to there being one large impedance contrast interface, two large interfaces, and a moderate one beneath the sites, respectively. The site effects characterized by fundamental frequency from HVSR curves are affected by underlying sedimentary layers and depth of sedimentary basement. According to our results, the existence of thick sediment layer obviously lowers the fundamental frequency to the period range from 2 to 4 s in the downtown area of Luoyang city. The ground motion will amplify when through the sites and the buildings with height of 20–50 floors can resonate at the similar frequency domain. Site effects estimation using HVSR method from a short-period dense array is an effective technique in areas of moderate seismic risk where strong motion recordings are lacking, such as the Luoyang basin.

Characterizing and Estimating Fungal Disease Severity of Rice Brown Spot with Hyperspectral Reflectance Data

Large-scale farming of agriculture crops requires real-time detection of disease for field pest management. Hyperspectral remote sensing data generally have high spectral resolution, which could be very useful for detecting disease stress in green vegetation at the leaf and canopy levels. In this study, hyperspectral reflectances of rice in the laboratory and field were measured to characterize the spectral regions and wavebands, which were the most sensitive to rice brown spot infected by Bipolaris oryzae （Helminthosporium oryzae Breda. de Hann）. Leaf reflectance increased at the ranges of 450 to 500 nm and 630 to 680 nm with the increasing percentage of infected leaf surface, and decreased at the ranges of 520 to 580 nm, 760 to 790 nm, 1550 to 1750 nm, and 2080 to 2350 nm with the increasing percentage of infected leaf surface respectively. The sensitivity analysis and derivative technique were used to select the sensitive wavebands for the detection of rice brown spot infected by B. oryzae. Ratios of rice leaf reflectance were evaluated as indicators of brown spot. R669/R746 （the reflectance at 669 nm divided by the reflectance at 746 nm, the following ratios may be deduced by analogy）, R702/R718, R692/R530, R692/R732, R535/R746, R521/R718, and R569/R718 increased significantly as the incidence of rice brown spot increased regardless of whether it＇s at the leaf or canopy level. R702/R718, R692/R530, R692/R732 were the best three ratios for estimating the disease severity of rice brown spot at the leaf and canopy levels. This result not only confirms the capability of hyperspectral remote sensing data in characterizing crop disease for precision pest management in the real world, but also testifies that the ratios of crop reflectance is a useful method to estimate crop disease severity.

Near-surface structure from ambient-noise tomography and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio beneath the Nankou-Sunhe fault

Active faults pose a great threat to urban security.As the largest NW-trend active fault in Beijing area,the Nankou-Sunhe fault plays an important role in earthquake disaster and city construction.In this study,we collect continuous ambient noise data recorded by 43 temporary short-period seismograph between September 21th to October 12th 2019 to investigate the near-surface structure beneath the Nankou-Sunhe fault by using ambient noise tomography(ANT)and horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio(HVSR)method.From ambient noise processing,fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave signals are clearly observed in the frequency band of 0.4-2.5 Hz.Then direct surface-wave inversion algorithm is applied to calculate the 3D shear-wave velocity model.Our results show that there is a sharp velocity contrast across the Nankou-Sunhe fault,with low velocities down to about 2 km on the hanging wall and high velocity on the footwall of the fault.According to the geological investigation,the low velocities are related to thicker sediments and Jurassic volcanic rock below which are the cap rock of the hydrothermal system.From the HVSR analysis,the HVSR curves of the sites near the fault shows double-peak,one less than 1 Hz and the other centered 7 Hz.After converting frequency to depth by the empirical equation,the results show that the thickness of sediments is thinned from southwest to northeast,which generally agrees well to field survey.Our results provide high-resolution near-surface structure for future study on disaster risk reduction and urban planning.

Single-station microtremor surveys for site characterization:A case study in Erzurum city,eastern Turkey

The single-station microtremor method is one of the fastest,most reliable,and cheapest methods used to identify dynamic soil properties.This study utilizes 49 single-station microtremor measurements to identify the dynamic soil properties of the Hilalkent quarter of the Yakutiye district in Erzurum.Soil dominant frequency and the amplification factor were calculated by using the Nakamura horizontal/vertical spectral ratio(H/V)method.While the soil dominant frequency values varied between 0.4 Hz and 10 Hz,the soil amplification factor changed between 1 and 10.Higher H/V values were acquired with lower frequency values.The vulnerability index(K_(g))and shear strain parameters that are utilized to estimate the damage that may be caused by an earthquake were mapped.Especially in the west side of the study area,higher K_(g) values were observed.The shear strain map was created with 0.25 g,0.50 g and 0.75 g bedrock accelerations,and soil types that lost elasticity during an earthquake were identified.The average shear wave velocity for the first 30 m(V_(s30))was calculated.Finally,it was observed that the western part of the study area,which resulted in a higher period and higher H/V,higher K_(g) and lower V_(s30) values,presents a higher risk of damage during an earthquake.

Tomographic inversion of near-surface Q factor by combining surface and cross-hole seismic surveys

The estimation of the quality factor Q plays a fundamental role in enhancing seismic resolution via absorption compensation in the near-surface layer.We present a new geometry that can be used to acquire field data by combining surface and cross-hole surveys to decrease the effect of geophone coupling on Q estimation.In this study,we drilled number of receiver holes around the source hole,each hole has different depth and each geophone is placed geophones into the bottom of each receiver hole to avoid the effect of geophone coupling with the borehole wall on Q estimation in conventional cross-hole seismic surveys.We also propose a novel tomographic inversion of the Q factor without the effect of the source signature,and examine its stability and reliability using synthetic data.We estimate the Q factors of the near-surface layer in two different frequency bands using field data acquired in the Dagang Oilfield.The results show that seismic absorption in the nearsurface layer is much greater than that in the subsurface strata.Thus,it is of critical practical importance to enhance the seismic solution by compensating for near-surface absorption.In addition,we derive different Q factors from two frequency bands,which can be treated,to some extent,as evidence of a frequency-dependent Q.

Interval Q inversion based on zero-offset VSP data and applications

In order to obtain stable interval Q factor, by analyzing the spectrum of monitoring wavelet and down-going wavelet of zero-offset VSP data and referring the spectrum expression of Ricker wavelet, we propose a new expression of source wavelet spectrum. Basing on the new expression, we present improved amplitude spectral fitting and spectral ratio methods for interval Q inversion based on zero-offset VSP data, and the sequence for processing the zero-offset VSP data. Subsequently, we apply the proposed methods to real zero-offset VSP data, and carry out prestack inverse Q filtering to zero-offset VSP data and surface seismic data for amplitude compensation with the estimated Q value.

An analysis of seismic scattering attenuation in a random elastic medium

Seismic attenuation has been inherent media characteristics in which an interesting topic of research, for it reflects the seismic waves propagate. There are many factors that cause seismic wave attenuation, such as geometry attenuation caused by energy dissipating during propagation, friction attenuation by relative sliding among rock grains, and scattering attenuation by rock heterogeneity. In this paper we study P-wave scattering attenuation in a random elastic medium by numerical simulations from a statistical point of view. A random elastic medium model is built based on general stochastic process theory. Then a staggered-grid pseudo-spectral method is used to simulate wave propagation. Scattering attenuation is estimated by the spectral ratio method based on virtual detector records. Random elastic media numerical scatter results with various heterogeneity levels show that the higher heterogeneous levels cause greater scattering attenuation. When the scatter sizes are smaller than a wave length, the larger scatters give a greater attenuation. Finally, we propose a method to evaluate fluid-flow attenuation in porous media. The fluid- flow attenuation is derived from total attenuation and scattering attenuation in random porous media and the attenuation is estimated quantitatively. Results show that in the real seismic frequency range when the heterogeneous scale is about 10^1 meters （less than one wave length）, scattering attenuation is larger than fluid-tlow attenuation in random porous media and scattering attenuation is the main factor of seismic attenuation in real heterogeneous porous media.

Estimation of quality factors by energy ratio method

The quality factor Q, which reflects the energy attenuation of seismic waves in subsurface media, is a diagnostic tool for hydrocarbon detection and reservoir characterization. In this paper, we propose a new Q extraction method based on the energy ratio before and after the wavelet attenuation, named the energy-ratio method（ERM）. The proposed method uses multipoint signal data in the time domain to estimate the wavelet energy without invoking the source wavelet spectrum, which is necessary in conventional Q extraction methods, and is applicable to any source wavelet spectrum; however, it requires high-precision seismic data. Forward zero-offset VSP modeling suggests that the ERM can be used for reliable Q inversion after nonintrinsic attenuation（geometric dispersion, refl ection, and transmission loss） compensation. The application to real zero-offset VSP data shows that the Q values extracted by the ERM and spectral ratio methods are identical, which proves the reliability of the new method.

Effect of seawater on incident plane P and SV waves at ocean bottom and engineering characteristics of offshore ground motion records off the coast of southern California, USA

The effect of seawater on vertical ground motions is studied via a theoretical method and then actual offshore ground motion records are analyzed using a statistical method. A theoretical analysis of the effect of seawater on incident plane P and SV waves at ocean bottom indicate that on one hand, the affected frequency range of vertical ground motions is prominent due to P wave resonance in the water layer if the impedance ratio between the seawater and the underlying medium is large, but it is greatly suppressed if the impedance ratio is small; on the other hand, for the ocean bottom interface model selected herein, vertical ground motions consisting of mostly P waves are more easily affected by seawater than those dominated by SV waves. The statistical analysis of engineering parameters of offshore ground motion records indicate that:(1) Under the infl uence of softer surface soil at the seafl oor, both horizontal and vertical spectral accelerations of offshore motions are exaggerated at long period components, which leads to the peak spectral values moving to a longer period.(2) The spectral ratios(V/H) of offshore ground motions are much smaller than onshore ground motions near the P wave resonant frequencies in the water layer; and as the period becomes larger, the effect of seawater becomes smaller, which leads to a similar V/H at intermediate periods(near 2 s). These results are consistent with the conclusions of Boore and Smith(1999), but the V/H of offshore motion may be smaller than the onshore ground motions at longer periods(more than 5 s).

Site response in the Qionghai Basin in the Wenchuan earthquake

Amplification effects of soil site response can significantly impact ground motions, and must be considered in the seismic fortification of buildings/structures to prevent or mitigate this potential seismic hazard. Utilizing acceleration time histories from the main shock of the Wenchuan earthquake recorded at four stations （i.e., one on bedrock and three on soil） in the Qionghai Basin, the site responses from three soil sites are studied by using the traditional spectral ratio method. The bedrock site is selected as a reference site. This study found that peak ground accelerations （PGAs） on the soil sites are much larger than on bedrock, with EW, NS and UD components of 3.96-6.58, 6.27-10.98, and 3.17-6.66 times those of the bedrock site, respectively. The amplification effects of the soil sites on ground motions in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 10 Hz are significant, depending on the thickness of the soil layer and the frequency content of the site. A significant amplification occurs with high frequency components of ground motion at shallow soil sites, and low and high frequency components of ground motion at intermediate soil sites.

Topographic effects observed at Amatrice hill during the 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence

The estimate of seismic site effects by experimental approaches is based on different assumptions aimed at simplifying the complex actual site conditions and related uncertainties.However,the reliability of the results can increase if the experimental data is focused on quite strong seismic sequences and the on-site acquisition of a large number of signals is deemed strategic for the assessment of the expected phenomena.Based on these considerations,the ground motion at the Red Zone sector of Amatrice hill,violently struck by the 2016-2017 Central Italy seismic sequence,was analyzed via an observational approach.A large set of weak motions(moment magnitude Mw 2.5-3.9)was analyzed in this study by means of standard(SSR)and horizontal to vertical(HVSR)spectral ratio techniques.The results from the experimental analysis of the site effects by using weak motion and noise signals show a significant amplification at the top of Amatrice hill with a remarkable polarization of the motion and changes in spectral shapes according to the topographic setting of the relief.

Features of different types of seismic events in China’s Capital Region

Seismic records produced by different seismic sources vary.In this study,we compared the waveform records and time-frequency characteristics of tectonic earthquakes,artificial explosions,and mine collapses in China’s Capital Region.The results show that tectonic earthquakes are characterized by stronger S-wave energy than P-wave energy,obvious high-frequency components,and wide frequency bands of P and S waves.Artificial explosions are characterized by greater P-wave amplitude than S-wave amplitude and near-station surface wave development.Mine collapses are characterized by lower overall frequency,more obvious surface waves,and longer duration.We extracted quantitative discriminants based on the analysis of different event records,with 31 feature values in 7 categories(P/S maximum amplitude ratio,high/low frequency energy ratio,P/S spectral ratio,corner frequency,duration,the second-order moment of spectrum,and energy strongest point).A comparison of the ability of these feature values to recognize distinct events showed that the 6-17 Hz P/S spectral ratio was able to completely distinguish artificial explosions from the other two types of events.The S-wave corner frequency performed relatively well in identifying all three types of events,with an accuracy of over 90%.Additionally,a support vector machine was used to comprehensively distinguish multiple features,with an accuracy for all three types of events reaching up to 100%.

Microtremor-based analysis of the dynamic response characteristics of a site containing grouped earth fissures

In this study,the Beibu earth fissure site in the northeastern part of Weihe Basin,which contains four nearly parallel earth fissures,was studied.A long straight microtremor measuring line,containing 49 measuring points across four earth fissures,was established to investigate the dynamic response of this site using Fourier spectrum,response acceleration spectrum,Arias intensity,and HVSR analyses.The main results are as follows:(1)The fundamental frequencies of 44 measuring points obtained from HVSR analysis are concentrated within 1.67 Hz-2.25 Hz,and the existence of the earth fissures has little effect on the fundamental frequency changes.(2)There is an amplification effect near a single earth fissure.The dynamic responses are large at the measuring points near the earth fissure,and the values decrease with increasing distance from the earth fissure.In areas between two adjacent earth fissures,these values decrease and are even lower than those in sites without amplification effects.(3)In this earth fissure site,the general area(or less affected area)and affected areas were delineated based on the amplification effect.In engineering applications,construction design should avoid these affected areas and existing structures should be reinforced to satisfy the seismic fortification requirements.

Estimation on site-amplification from different methods using strong motion data obtained in Tangshan, China

A seismic observation array for strong motions was deployed to estimate seismic source, propagation path and local site effects in Tangshan, China. We compared site response from the S-wave inversion and those from other techniques, such as traditional direct spectral ratios of S waves and receiver-function of S waves. From the inversion, we found that S-wave quality factor, i.e. Qs-value, is approximately satisfied with the relation of Qs=67f1.1 in the range of frequency from 0.5 Hz to 32 Hz and that the source spectra follow the ω-2 model of seismic source for low frequencies less than about 12 Hz. From the comparison of site responses estimated by the different methods for each soil site, we found that all the methods can extract the same predominant peaks from the responses, the amplifications from direct S-wave spectral ratios are well correlated with those from the S-wave inversion within a factor of 2 to 3, while the correlation between the amplifications from S-wave receiver-function and those from the S-wave inversion is not good, especially for high frequencies more than 8 Hz.

Seismic ground motion variations resulting from site conditions

Amplification of seismic ground motions in the territory of Almaty city is evaluated by using different methods. The pattern and probable causes of ground motion variations in different engineering-geological conditions are characterized. An expeditious application of these techniques within a complex methodical approach for Almaty city microzonation is considered.

The effect of spall on Lg waves

The generation mechanism of Lg wave from underground nuclear explosion is still not clear at present. The gen-eral viewpoint is that the S wave generated by the near-source scattering of explosion-generated Rg appears to be the primary contributor to the low-frequency Lg (0.2~2.0 Hz) from nuclear explosions. The viewpoint is supported by the analysis of regional data from several Yucca Flats, NTS explosions by Patton and Taylor (1995), who fur-ther indicated that the prominent low-frequency spectral null in Lg is due to Rg from a compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) source. In the paper, the data from Kazakstan Test Sites are investigated by a spectral ratio method. We have found that the spectral ratio of Lg waves is characterized by a spectral scalloping and a pronounced null, and the spectral null does not shift with spall dwell times, showing a strong dependence on shot depth and a very good agreement with those expected from Rg due to a CLVD source.

Distribution of Lg coda Q in Xinjiang and its adjacent regions

In this study, we collected 1156 broadband vertical components records at 22 digital seismic stations in Xinjiang region, Urumqi station, and 7 stations in the adjacent regions during the period of 1999-2003. The records were firstly processed by the stacked spectral ratio method to obtain Q0 (Q at 1 Hz) and the frequency correlation factor η corresponding to each path. Based on the results, the distribution images of Q0 and η in 1°×1° grids for Xinjiang region were gained by the back-projection technique. The results indicate that Q0 is high (300-450) in the Tarim platform and marginal Siberian platform, while Q0 is low (150-250) in the southern regions as west Kunlun fold system and Songpan-Ganzi fold system. In the northern regions as Junggar fold system and Tianshan fold system, Q0 is also low (250-300) and η varies between 0.5 and 0.9.

Interval attenuation estimation from prestack seismic data:A case study from the Arabian Peninsula

Accurately estimated interval attenuation(1/Q)values have several applications,such as in quantitative interpretation and seismic resolution enhancement.Although Q values can be estimated by measuring the spectral ratio between seismic reflections from a target and a reference reflector,the results are influenced by factors such as overburden inhomogeneities.Here,we quantitatively analyze the overburden influence on interval Q estimations using the spectral ratio method,time-space domain prestack Q inversion(PSQI),andτ-p domain PSQI.We compare these three methods using a synthetic dataset and a field dataset acquired onshore the Arabian Peninsula.Synthetic seismic gathers are generated from a three-layer model with a low-Q inclusion in the first layer to mimic overburden inhomogeneity.The fi eld data are preconditioned image gathers from a producing oil fi eld.The synthetic data test shows that the small low-Q body produces a considerable error in estimated Q values.The smallest error(i.e.,13.3%)is in theτ-p domain PSQI result.Theoretically,τ-p domain PSQI could obtain more accurate Q values when there are overburden infl uences because of the simultaneous inversion scheme and the application in theτ-p domain.The fi eld data application also illustrates that theτ-p domain PSQI produces reasonable interval Q values.Our measured Q values are also comparable with the Q values estimated from hydrocarbon saturated carbonate reservoirs.