UC Berkeley

In this paper, we present the workflow of the application of surface wave tomography to characterize the near surface. A near surface model is simulated with a shallow unconsolidated layer that has a variable thickness and a deep consolidated zone. Data is filtered by bandpass filters and surface wave phase arrival times are picked, and surface wave velocities are inverted using a ray theoretical tomographic approach. A good agreement is found between the inverted results and the original model. In another model, a thin fault zone is detected. Agreement between the tomographic results and the model suggests that surface wave tomography is well suited for characterizing shallow geology with the capability of identifying low velocity anomalies and general lateral variations.