On the validation of seismic imaging methods: Finite frequency or ray theory?
- Earth and Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USA
- Department of Earth Sciences University of Southern California Los Angeles California USA, Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California Berkeley California USA
- Department of Earth and Planetary Science University of California Berkeley California USA
Abstract We investigate the merits of the more recently developed finite‐frequency approach to tomography against the more traditional and approximate ray theoretical approach for state of the art seismic models developed for western North America. To this end, we employ the spectral element method to assess the agreement between observations on real data and measurements made on synthetic seismograms predicted by the models under consideration. We check for phase delay agreement as well as waveform cross‐correlation values. Based on statistical analyses on S wave phase delay measurements, finite frequency shows an improvement over ray theory. Random sampling using cross‐correlation values identifies regions where synthetic seismograms computed with ray theory and finite‐frequency models differ the most. Our study suggests that finite‐frequency approaches to seismic imaging exhibit measurable improvement for pronounced low‐velocity anomalies such as mantle plumes.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐AC52‐06NA25396/LA12‐SignalPropagation‐NDD2Ab; AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1240467
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1212465; OSTI ID: 1240468
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Vol. 42 Journal Issue: 2; ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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