Sísmica y sismología

Outline

Seismometry
“Field concerned with the detection and measurement of
seismic ground motion”

- Pcps of seismometers
- Response of seismometers
- From the ground motion to digital signals
- Seismic stations, geophones, network
- Data storage
 Early seismometers
Seismoscope!
Invented in AD 132 by Zhang Heng

When some ground

shaking is felt by the
instrument, a pendulum
inside it would let a ball
fall from one of the
dragons mouth indicating
the direction the
earthquake is coming
from.
 Seismometer
Composed of different parts
Clock

Or geophone

Digitizer Recorder

The seismometer can be considered as a filter, as it records only

parts of the ground motion. Which part depends on its
characteristics like its dynamic range and frequency response.

Seismometers and geophones record small ground motions.

 Seismometers

BROAD-BAND SEISMOMETER

GEOPHONE
 Seismometers
A seismometer records the ground motion,
whatever its source.

Basic principle of inertial seismometers:

Mass
+
Spring
+
Dashpot (damping)
 Seismometers
Influence of the damping on the seismometer
 Seismometers
Why is it relatively complex to build a seismometers?
1 - Large amplitude variations (→ dynamic range of
seismometers)
 Seismometers
Why is it relatively complex to build a seismometers?
1 - Large amplitude variations (→ dynamic range of
seismometers)

Modified Mercali intensity scale of ground shaking

 Seismometers
Why is it relatively complex to build a seismometers?
2 - Large differences in signal frequency/period

Earthquakes
Microseismic Explosions Microseismic
monitoring further away noise

Nearby
Earthquakes,
Explosions
 Seismometers
Why is it relatively complex to build a seismometers?
3 - Background and instrumental noise

NLNM: new low

noise model
 Principles of seismometers

Inertial pendulum for

vertical and horizontal
motions.

The mass is somehow

connected to a
pen/laser writing the
signal on paper
(=seismograms)

As well as time ticks to

keep track of time.

Inertial seismometers
Record relative motions between the
mass and the moving Earth surface
 Principles of seismometers
Working electromagnetically
Modern seismometers
Permanent magnet inside coils of
fine wires

When magnet moves, create

small current directly proportional
to the ground motion

The current opposes the magnet

movements, damping the
oscillations

Connected to digital output or

paper rolls

For 3-C stations, 3 seismometers

in 3 directions
 Principles of seismometers

Inertial seismometers
are characterized by a
frequency response.

They don't amplify all

frequencies by the
same amount.
 Mechanical inertial seismometer
With u(t) the Earth motion and z(t) the mass motion relative to the Earth
Two forces:
- spring force -kz (neg. because oppose motion), with k the spring
constant. Resonant angular frequency of the system is
- damping force with d the friction constant
Scherbaum, Of Poles and Zeros, 1996
 Mechanical inertial seismometer
With u(t) the Earth motion and z(t) the mass motion relative to the Earth
Two forces:
- spring force -kz (neg. because oppose motion), with k the spring
constant. Resonant angular frequency of the system is
- damping force with d the friction constant

The total accelaration will be the sum of the ground acceleration and the
relative acceleration with respect to the frame,
using sum Forces = mass * acc.

Spring Ground
Damping Relative motion
force force motion
 Mechanical inertial seismometer
Introducing the seismometer damping constant

This shows that the ground acceleration can be measured using the
relative displacement of the mass z(t) and its time derivatives.
 Mechanical inertial seismometer

To solve the equation above, we assume an harmonic signal since an

arbitrary signal can be reconstructed by the superposition of harmonics.
With the ground displacement:
U(ω) is the amplitude
And the seismometer motion is also a harmonic motion with the same
frequency
 Mechanical inertial seismometer
Then, the transfer function (=displacement frequency response function)
is

The amplitude displacement response Ad(ω) and phase displacement

response Φd(ω) are the modulus and phase of the complex response
 Mechanical inertial seismometer

For high frequencies (ω >> ω0)

and sensor measures displacement

Conversely, for low frequencies (ω << ω0)

and sensor measures acceleration
 Mechanical inertial seismometer

Amplitude and phase response for a sensor with ω0= 1 sec., and damping from 0.25 to
4.
Seismometers ~ high pass filters
Critical damping h ~ 1. Common value of h is 1/sqrt(2) ~ 0.707.

Havskov, Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology, 2002

 Electromagnetic seismometer
Very common seismometer/geophone (short-period geophones, 10-Hz and
15-Hz geophones)
These sensors record the ground velocity!

Coil movement in magnetic

field -> electromotive force
proportional to velocity
(Faraday's law)

With a “shunt resistance” R

(included in damping)

Tension in output is then

proportional to ground velocity

Induced current oppose the

movements of the coil ->
damping

Havskov, Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology, 2002

 Electromagnetic seismometer
Different frequency response from mechanical inertial sensor
Here the displacement of the ground is proportional to and G and
not

G = generator constant relates ground velocity to the coil output

(units Volt / m/s)
 Electromagnetic seismometer

Applet for more response functions:

https://www.ifg.tu-clausthal.de/fileadmin/xfer/SXfrApp.html
Havskov, Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology, 2002
 Force balanced seismometer
Actively used for strong motion sensors
External force (earthquakes for ex.) is compensated by an opposite force in
the seismometer -> the mass stays mostly stationary
Amount of current needed to balance external force proportional to
acceleration
Mass hardly moves -> allows to measure strong motion and increase dynamic
range

Havskov, Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology, 2002

 Seismometers characteristics
Dynamic range of a seismometer = ratio between largest measurable
amplitude Amax to the smallest measurable amplitude Amin
-> range of ground motion a sensor is able to measure accurately
Commonly expressed in dB (decibels)
Dynamic range = 20 log10(Amax/Amin) in dB

Example: with a 24 bit ADC (analog to digital converter) you have 224 digital
values (16777216)
20log10(16777216/1) -> 144 dB
If voltage range between +/- 2.5 V then the voltage resolution is 5/16777216
= 2.98e-07 volts/bit
 Hydrophones
Sensors recording pressure waves underwater
Mostly piezoelectric sensors = ceramics for example which generate
electric current when subjected to pressure changes
Non-directional sensors

Other sensors:
Fiber-optic cable (mesure
differences in thickness
of the fiber optic cable)
 Examples of seismic networks

Seismic arrays
 Examples of seismic networks

Seismic arrays
Also,
- increase S/N ratio using stacking
- beamforming
...
 Examples of seismic networks

Seismic networks
 Examples of data storage
Most common formats are seg-y and sac
Most companies, agencies, institutes, universities ... have their own format
which makes data sharing extremely difficult and nerve breaking...
SEG-Y
Binary files
Mostly for seismic data
 Examples of data storage
SAC (seismic analysis code)
Binary files
 Examples of data storage
How much disk space do we need?

Sampling rate? (50 Hz – 4000 Hz)

Length of data trace(s) ? (few sec. - months or years)
How many stations/geophones ? (1 – many)
How many components per geophone ? (1 – 3)
Precision of data ? (8, 16 or 32 bits / data value)

==> Anywhere from mbytes to terabytes!

 Epilogue

Further reading:
Havskov, Instrumentation in Earthquake Seismology, 2002 (freely available
on internet)
Scherbaum, Of Poles and Zeros, fundamentals of digital seismology, Kluwer
Academic Publishers, 1996