Urban Seismic Site Characterization by Fiber‐Optic Seismology

Abstract

Accurate ground motion prediction requires detailed site effect assessment, but in urban areas where such assessments are most important, geotechnical surveys are difficult to perform, limiting their availability. Distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) offers an appealing alternative by repurposing existing fiber‐optic cables, normally employed for telecommunication, as an array of seismic sensors. We present a proof‐of‐concept demonstration by using DAS to produce high‐resolution maps of the shallow subsurface with the Stanford DAS array, California. We describe new methods and their assumptions to assess H/V spectral ratio—a technique widely used to estimate the natural frequency of the soil—and to extract Rayleigh wave dispersion curves from ambient seismic field. These measurements are jointly inverted to provide models of shallow seismic velocities and sediment thicknesses above bedrock in central campus. The good agreement with an independent survey validates the methodology and demonstrates the power of DAS for microzonation.Key PointsWe demonstrate the potential of DAS for site effect analysisDAS recordings are used to compute dispersion curves and horizontal‐to‐vertical spectral ratio (HVSR)Joint inversions suggest that the crystalline bedrock lies 115 m beneath Stanford University central campus