An Introduction to Seismic Interferometry and Imaging with Seismic Noise

Dylan Mikesell
NSF Postdoctoral Fellow

Earth Resources Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Friday, Mar. 21, 2014, 3:00pm
Chase 130
Abstract

Using ambient seismic noise for imaging subsurface structure dates back to the development of the spatial autocorrelation (SPAC) method in the 1950s. However, not until recently have numerical and laboratory experiments shown how crosscorrelation of noise recorded at two points provides an actual estimate of the impulse response between these points. This correlation technique has been termed Seismic Interferometry (SI) in the active-source seismology community. In this talk we will investigate how the crosscorrelation of seismic records yields the impulse response. Both active sources and ambient-noise sources will be discussed. Furthermore, I will discuss the links between the SPAC and SI methods, demonstrate how they work, and show examples of imaging and monitoring using seismic noise correlations. 

Bio

Dylan Mikesell has a B.Sc. in Geophysical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Boise State University (BSU). Between his degrees, Dylan worked as a Geophysical Project Engineer in non-destructive testing at Olson Engineering. He is currently an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth Resources Laboratory at MIT. Before that he was a postdoc at the Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur in France. Dylan enjoys teaching and mentoring and has co-organized and participated in two SEG Geoscientists Without Borders projects in the Republic of Benin and Thailand. His research focuses on experimental methods in wave propagation, signal processing and imaging and near-surface seismology.