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Possible Method for increasing the Signal–Noise Ratio in the Detection of the First Motion of a Refracted P-Wave

Abstract

IN seismology a method has been developed of examining the focal mechanisms of earthquakes by studying the azimuthal variation of the first movements on seismograms1. In extending this method to differentiating between small earthquakes and explosions a basic experimental problem is the detection of the initial movement when its amplitude is of the order of only 10−7 cm. in the frequency-range 1–10 c.p.s., and is therefore comparable with the background microseismic noise-level at the quietest sites. The purpose of this communication is to suggest and illustrate a possible technique of increasing the signal : noise ratio.

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References

  1. Scheidegger, A. E., Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., 47, 89 (1957).

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  2. Kolsky, H., Stress Waves in Solids (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1953).

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KEY, F., WRIGHT, J., CARPENTER, E. et al. Possible Method for increasing the Signal–Noise Ratio in the Detection of the First Motion of a Refracted P-Wave. Nature 191, 1382–1383 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/1911382a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1911382a0

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