Properties of Noise Cross-Correlation Functions Obtained from a Distributed Acoustic Sensing Array at Garner Valley, California

Journal Article · Tue Jan 31 04:00:00 EST 2017 · Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1785/0120160168· OSTI ID:1379183

Zeng, Xiangfang ^[1]; Lancelle, Chelsea ^[2]; Thurber, Clifford ^[2]; Fratta, Dante ^[2]; Wang, Herb ^[2]; Lord, Neal ^[2]; Chalari, Athena ^[3]; Clarke, Andy ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); University of Wisconsin-Madison
2. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
3. Silixa Ltd. Hertfordshire (United Kingdom)

A field test that was conducted at Garner Valley, California, on 11 and 12 September 2013 using distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) to sense ground vibrations provided a continuous overnight record of ambient noise. Furthermore, the energy of ambient noise was concentrated between 5 and 25 Hz, which falls into the typical traffic noise frequency band. A standard procedure (Bensen et al., 2007) was adopted to calculate noise cross-correlation functions (NCFs) for 1-min intervals. The 1-min-long NCFs were stacked using the time–frequency domain phase-weighted-stacking method, which significantly improves signal quality. The obtained NCFs were asymmetrical, which was a result of the nonuniform distributed noise sources. A precursor appeared on NCFs along one segment, which was traced to a strong localized noise source or a scatterer at a nearby road intersection. NCF for the radial component of two surface accelerometers along a DAS profile gave similar results to those from DAS channels. Here, we calculated the phase velocity dispersion from DAS NCFs using the multichannel analysis of surface waves technique, and the result agrees with active-source results. We then conclude that ambient noise sources and the high spatial sampling of DAS can provide the same subsurface information as traditional active-source methods.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Geothermal Technologies Office (EE-4G)
• Grant/Contract Number: EE0006760
• OSTI ID: 1379183
• Journal Information: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Journal Name: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 107; ISSN 0037-1106
• Publisher: Seismological Society of America
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
Cross-correlation function
DAS
Noise
distributed acoustic sensing
near surface
phase velocity