Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 94, No. 1, pp.

5363, February 2004

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

by Hiroshi Arai and Kohji Tokimatsu

Abstract A method for estimating the S-wave velocity (VS) prole of subsurface soils is proposed, based on inversion of the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectrum of microtremors observed with a three-component sensor. For this purpose, theoretical formulas are derived for computing the H/V spectrum of surface waves propagating on a layered half-space in which the effects of the fundamental and higher modes are taken into account. An inverse analysis using microtremor H/V spectrum is then presented for estimating S-wave velocity proles of subsurface soils. Assuming that either the VS values or the thicknesses of the shallow soil layers are known, the remaining unknowns are sought. The inverse analyses are performed using the H/V spectra observed at six sites, and their shallow VS proles are estimated. The inverted S-wave velocity proles are consistent with available downhole velocity logs at the sites. The standard error ratios of the inverted values are less than about 0.1, with a maximum of 0.2.
Introduction
One of the important lessons learned from catastrophic earthquakes in the last several decades is that the resulting damage at a site could be affected by the surface geology of the site, that is, site effects. The evaluation of site effects is, therefore, one of the key components for preventing or mitigating earthquake disasters. To evaluate site effects quantitatively, one-, two-, or three-dimensional S-wave velocity (VS) proles of sedimentary deposits should be determined down to seismic bedrock. It is, however, too expensive and time consuming to estimate a multidimensional VS prole of sediments based on geophysical or geotechnical methods because of the large number of boreholes needed. As an economical and practical substitute, microtremor measurements that can be readily performed on the ground surface have been used. A number of recent studies have shown that the frequencywavenumber (F-k) spectral analysis (Capon, 1969) and the spatial autocorrelation analysis (Aki, 1957) for the microtremor vertical components measured with arrays of sensors can yield the dispersion characteristics of Rayleigh waves. The transverse F-k analysis (e.g., Tokimatsu, 1997) for microtremor horizontal components can also extract dispersion curves of Love waves when both vertical and horizontal components of microtremors are propagated from the same direction. In addition, it has been revealed that the inverse analysis of the dispersion data of microtremor vertical motions successfully results in the VS prole of a sedimentary deposit (e.g., Horike, 1985; Matsushima and Okada, 1990a; Tokimatsu et al., 1992b). These array studies indicate that microtremors mainly consist of surface (Rayleigh and Love) waves and that using arrays of sensors to 53 observe microtremors is an effective tool for evaluating VS structure at a sedimentary site (e.g., Horike, 1993; Tokimatsu, 1997). The recent studies by Nakamura (1989) have indicated that the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio of microtremors, observed at a site with only one three-component sensor, may approximate the amplication factor of the site for the vertically incident S wave. This suggests that the microtremor H/V spectrum may reect the VS prole at the site. Based on the array observation, Tokimatsu and Miyadera (1992) revealed that the variation of microtremor H/V ratios with frequency corresponds to that of the fundamentalmode Rayleigh wave for the VS prole at the site. Using these characteristics, several studies have shown that the variation of thickness of deep soil layers can be estimated, given the VS values of the corresponding layers, so that the peak and trough frequencies of the H/V spectrum of the fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave t in those of microtremors observed at the site (e.g., Yamanaka et al., 1994). However, the microtremor H/V ratios are not always consistent with those of the fundamental Rayleigh mode, probably because of the presence of other surface waves in microtremors, that is, higher mode Rayleigh waves and Love waves (e.g., Tokimatsu et al., 1992a; Lachet and Bard, 1994). Based on the theory proposed by Harkrider (1964) for surface (both Rayleigh and Love) waves propagating in a layered half-space, Arai and Tokimatsu (2000) presented theoretical formulas for simulating microtremor H/V spectra in which the effects of fundamental and higher modes can be considered. They indicated that the theoretical H/V spectrum computed for the VS prole of a site can closely match

54 the microtremor H/V spectrum observed at the site and, conversely, that the VS structure at a site can be estimated from the inversion of the microtremor H/V spectrum at the site. The objectives of this article are to introduce the inverse analysis of the microtremor H/V spectrum for estimating VS structure of a sedimentary site and to examine the reliability and accuracy of the proposed inversion methodology.

H. Arai and K. Tokimatsu

point source, H(2) is the Hankel function of the second kind n of the order n, and h is the scattering damping ratio of soil (h 0). Similarly, the vertical and horizontal powers of the mth mode Rayleigh wave from the ith horizontal point source at a frequency x can be expressed by
PH (x) VRmi 1 2 u LH(x)A2 (x) Rm 2 w
2 (2) |H1 (kRm ri)| 2 m

(3)

Review of H/V Spectra of Surface Waves

Figure 1a shows a soil layer model of a site where the theoretical H/V spectrum is to be determined. The soil layer model is assumed to be a semi-innite elastic medium consisting of N parallel, solid, homogeneous, isotropic layers. Each layer is characterized by its thickness H, density q, Pwave velocity VP, and S-wave velocity VS. It is also assumed that Fourier-time-transformed vertical and horizontal point forces having an angular frequency x, LV(x) and LH(x), are randomly distributed on the ground (e.g., Lachet and Bard, 1994) at distances greater than 1 wavelength from the observation point, that is, the origin (see Fig. 1b). Although both surface and body waves are generated from each source and propagated through the medium, body waves attenuate more rapidly than surface waves. Rayleigh and Love waves therefore dominate at distances greater than 1 wavelength from the source (kRm or kLm; see Fig. 1b) (e.g., Harvey, 1981; Tamura, 1996). Thus, the vertical and horizontal powers of the mth mode Rayleigh wave from the ith vertical point source at a frequency x can be expressed as (Harkrider, 1964)
V PVRmi(x) 2 2 (2) LV(x)ARm(x)|H0 (kRm ri)| exp( 2hkRm ri) 2

exp( 2hkRm ri) PH (x) HRmi 1 2 u L (x)A2 (x) Rm 2 H w

4 (2) |H0 (kRm ri)|2

(4)

exp( 2hkRm ri).

The horizontal power of the mth mode Love wave from the ith horizontal point source at a frequency x can be expressed as
PH (x) HLmi 1 2 2 L (x)A2 (x)|H(2)(kLmri)| exp( 2hkLm ri), Lm 0 2 H

(5)

in which the subscript L indicates Love waves. Assuming statistical independence among the loading phases of all the sources, integration of each of equations (1) to (5) for all the point sources and Rayleigh- and Lovewave modes yields the vertical and horizontal powers of all the waves observed at the origin at a frequency x
M V PVR(x) m 2p

dh
0 0 2p M

kRm

PV (x)ri dri VRmi

(6)

(1)
V PHR(x)

V PHRmi(x)

u 2 2 LV(x)ARm(x) w

|
m

(2) H1 (kRm ri)

dh
m M 0 0 2p

kRm

PV (x)ri dri HRmi

(7)

(2)
H PVR(x)

exp( 2hkRm ri),

dh
m M 0 0 2p

in which A is the medium response factor (Harkrider, 1964), k is the wavenumber, u/w is the H/V ratio of Rayleigh waves on the free surface (Haskell, 1953), the subscript R indicates Rayleigh waves, r is the distance between the origin and the

kRm

PH (x)ri dri VRmi

(8)

H PHR(x) m

dh
0 0

kRm

PH (x)ri dri HRmi

(9)

Geometry of (a) soil layer and (b) microtremor source models to formulate the theoretical H/V spectrum of surface waves considering the effects of fundamental and higher modes (after Arai and Tokimatsu, 2000). In the soil model, each layer is characterized by its thickness H, density q, P-wave velocity VP, and S-wave velocity VS.

Figure 1.

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

M H PHL(x) m 0 2p

55

dh
0

kLm

PH (x)ri dri , HLmi

(10)

(H/V)S(x)

PHS(x) PVS(x)

PHR(x) PHL(x) PVR(x) PHR(x) . PHL(x)

(20)

in which M is the highest mode considered. The Hankel functions H(2) in the integrals of equations (6) to (10) can be n replaced by the following approximate form for ri kRm/Lm:

(R/L)(x)

(21)

|H(2)(z)|2 n

2 . pz

(11)

Using the approximate form from equations (6) to (10), the results of the integrals yield the following equations:
M V PVR(x) 2 jLV m M V PHR(x) 2 jLV m 2 LH 2 2 LH 2 2 LH 2 0 M m M m M m 0 0 0 0

ARm kRm ARm kRm

(12)
2

u w
2

(13)
m

H PVR(x)

ARm kRm ARm kRm

u w u w

(14)
m 4

H PHR(x)

(15)
m

H PHL(x)

ALm 2 , kLm

(16)

in which j (2/h)exp( 4ph). The integrated vertical and horizontal powers of all the waves at a frequency x observed at the origin, PVS (x) and PHS (x), can then be derived as PVS(x) PVR(x)
H PVR(x)

The common coefcients jL2 (2/h)exp( 4ph) L2 that v v appear in both the numerator and denominator in equations (19) to (21) can be cancelled out. Thus the scattering damping ratio h has no effects on the dimensionless amplitude ratios. Although equations (19) to (21) have been formulated in a three-dimensional wave propagation eld, the same equations can be used in a two-dimensional eld. This is because the relative amplitudes of the mth Rayleigh- and Love-wave modes in equations (1) to (5) are only replaced by ARm /kRm and ALm /kLm, respectively (Regan and Harkrider, 1989; Hisada et al., 1991), and the vertical and horizontal integrated powers of all the waves, PVS(x) and PHS(x), can be dened by equations (17) and (18), respectively. Determination of (H/V)R and (H/V)S from equations (19) and (20) requires the value of in addition to the soil model. Although the value of is unknown, it can be determined from equation (21), provided that the value of R/L is known. Matsushima and Okada (1990b) and Arai and Tokimatsu (2000) indicated that the value of R/L is stable at 0.41.0, with an average of about 0.7 in a period range of 0.15 sec. Thus, in the following computation, the value of R/L is assigned to 0.7 at all frequencies.

H/V Spectrum of Microtremors

Denition of Microtremor H/V Spectrum The H/V spectral ratio of microtremors at a frequency x, (H/V)m(x), used in this study is dened as PNS(x) PEW(x) , PUD(x)

PV (x) VR M ARm 2 2 jLV m 0 kRm

PHL(x) H PHR(x) 2 ARm u kRm w
M 2 jLV m 0

u w

(17)
m

PHS(x) PHR(x)

PHR(x) V PHR(x)
M 2 jLV m 0

(18)
2 2

(H/V)m(x)

(22)

1
m 2

2 ALm , kLm
2

u w

2 m

PHL(x)

H PHL(x)

where is the H/V ratio of the microtremor loading sources, LH /LV, which is assumed to be constant in the area considered. Using equations (17) and (18), the H/V ratio of Rayleigh waves (H/V)R, that of surface waves (H/V)S, and RayleightoLove-wave amplitude ratio for horizontal motions R/L at a frequency x are nally expressed as PHR(x) PVR(x)

where PUD(x) is the Fourier power spectrum of the vertical motion and PNS(x) and PEW(x) are those of two orthogonal horizontal motions. To determine the Fourier power spectrum, the direct segment method (Capon, 1969) is employed. The Fourier power spectrum of X-directional motion at a frequency x, PX(x), is determined by PX(x) 1 L
L l 1

|SXl (x)|2,

(23)

(H/V)R(x)

(19)

in which L is the total number of nonoverlapping data segments and SXl(x) is the fast Fourier transform of the lth data segment of the X-directional motion.

56 Comparison with Theoretical H/V Spectrum To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed H/V method, microtremor measurements were made at two sites in Tokyo, Japan, subsequently called sites A and B, where both shallow and deep VS proles are available, as shown in Figure 2 (Tokimatsu, 1997) and Table 1 (Shima et al., 1976). In addition to a three-component velocity sensor with a natural period of 1 sec, the measurement system consists of ampliers, low-pass lters, 16-bit A/D converters, and a note-type computer, all built in a portable case. At each site, microtremors were measured for 6 min and digitized at an equal interval of 0.01 sec. About 816 sets of data segments with 2048 points each were selected from the digitized motions and used for the spectral analyses. Further details of the microtremor observations used in this study can be found elsewhere (e.g., Tokimatsu, 1997). The H/V spectra of microtremors determined by equation (22), (H/V)m, are shown in Figure 3 as open circles. Also shown in the gure as broken and solid lines are those of fundamental-mode Rayleigh waves and combined Rayleigh and Love waves computed by equations (19) and (20). In the computations, it is assumed that the base layer of the shallow prole shown in Figure 2 continues down to a depth of 100 m. The H/V spectral shape of the fundamental Rayleigh mode, including its peak and trough periods, is similar to that of the microtremors, but the amplitudes are dissimilar. In contrast, both the shape and the amplitudes of the theoretical surface waves, (H/V)S, show fairly good agreement with those of microtremors. This indicates that the microtremor H/V can be estimated by the theoretical surface-wave H/V spectrum dened by equation (20) (Arai and Tokimatsu, 2000), given a VS structure. This in turns suggests that the VS prole of a site may be estimated from the inversion of microtremor H/V ratios of the site.

H. Arai and K. Tokimatsu

Figure 2. Shallow S-wave velocity proles based on the results of PS logs at sites A and B in Tokyo, Japan (after Tokimatsu, 1997).

Table 1
Deep Ground Structure based on the Results of Seismic Explosion Survey Near Site A in Tokyo, Japan
Depth (m) q(t/m3) VP (m/sec) VS (m/sec)

1001500 15002300 2300

1.9 2.2 2.5

1800 2800 5600

700 1500 3000

After Shima et al. (1976).

Inversion Methodology
Sensitivity Analysis To investigate the suitability of using the microtremor H/V spectrum for VS proling, sensitivity analyses are performed for the soil layer models at sites A and B. The absolute value of the nondimensional partial derivative, that is, sensitivity, of the surface-wave H/V ratio, (H/V)S(x), for any of the parameters in the jth layer of the soil model, Pji (Hj, qj, VPj, VSj), can be expressed as
P Dji (x)

P (H/V)s(x) (H/V)s(x) P

.
P Pji

(24)

The larger the value of DP, the more sensitive (H/V)S is to ji the parameter Pji. Figure 4 shows the variations of the values of D (sensitivities) with period with respect to the thickness, density, and P- and S-wave velocities of several layers at site A. The values of D for the thickness and S-wave velocity (Fig. 4a,d)

are larger than those for the density and P-wave velocity at all periods (Fig. 4b,c). In contrast, the values of D for the layers at depths over 100 m are almost zero at all periods and far less than those for the shallow soil layers. The same trends are conrmed for the soil layer model at site B. This indicates that the thickness and S-wave velocity of the shallow soil layers have the most signicant effect on the H/V spectrum of surface waves. Tsuboi and Saito (1983) derived the partial derivatives of the H/V spectrum of Rayleigh waves and made a similar suggestion. It has also been suggested that the peak and trough values of the H/V spectrum may be sensitive to Poissons ratios less than about 0.3 (Lachet and Bard, 1994); however, the shape and amplitude of the spectrum are insensitive to the parameter in periods other than peak and trough periods. These ndings indicate that inversion of microtremor H/V spectra can be best achieved by the variation of layer thickness, layer S-wave velocity, or both of these parameters, that is, VS structure of subsurface soils. In reality, however, a trade-off between layer thickness and S-wave velocity occurs in the inversion process, because the target of the inversion, that is, the H/V ratio, is a nondimensional scalar (e.g., Yamanaka et al., 1994). Thus, either thickness or Swave velocity is sought in the following inversion, in which the total number of unknown parameters, J, is either N 1 or N. The other parameter is set at a xed value. Inversion Procedure Although various nonlinear inversion methodologies to estimate S-wave velocity proles using dispersion curves of

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

57
Comparison of the H/V spectra of microtremors (H/V)m (open circles) with those of fundamental-mode Rayleigh wave and surface waves, (H/V)R0 and (H/V)S (broken and solid lines), respectively, computed for the soil proles at sites A and B (after Arai and Tokimatsu, 2000).

Figure 3.

Figure 4. The absolute values of nondimensional partial derivatives (sensitivities) of the H/V spectrum of surface waves D for the soil layer model at site A. Panels (a) (d) show the values of D for the thickness, density, and P- and S-wave velocities of several layers in the subsurface soils at the site, respectively.

Rayleigh waves have been presented (e.g., Horike, 1985; Matsushima and Okada, 1990a; Tokimatsu et al., 1992b; Yuan and Nazarian, 1993; Tokimatsu, 1997), they may not be directly applied to the microtremor H/V spectrum because its variation with frequency is more complicated than that of dispersion curves. Here we describe the inversion method adopted in this study. When the observed H/V spectral ratios of microtremors (H/V)m are given at I different frequencies, the goal of the inversion process is to nd a soil layer model that satises the following generalized least-squares equation: 1 I
I i 1

(H/V)mi (H/V)Si (H/V)mi

min.,

(25)

in which (H/V)Si is the theoretical H/V spectrum of surface waves computed for a soil layer model with equation (20). To solve equation (25), the generalized (nonlinear) least-squares method (e.g., Dorman and Ewing, 1962; Wiggins, 1972) is employed because of the highly nonlinear characteristics of the parameters for the H/V values of surface waves. In such a nonlinear problem, as is well known, several iterations are necessary before the nal soil layer model is identied (see Fig. 5). To initiate the inversion process, an initial soil prole P(0) is assumed. P(0) is a column vector consisting of N 1 or N elements p(0), each of which is equal to either thickj ness or S-wave velocity of each layer. After the kth iteration, the soil prole is updated to P(k). In the nonlinear inversion, the system is approximately linearized around the soil prole

58

H. Arai and K. Tokimatsu

Figure 5. Schematic diagram showing nonlinear inversion of microtremor H/V spectrum. The iteration is repeated until the root mean of the sum of squares of the normalized mist e is converged into an acceptable small value, and the soil-layer model is then determined.

P(k). The governing equation of the nonlinear inversion problem is then expressed in a matrix form as WDy(k) WA(k)Dx(k),

(26)

Dx(k) is dened as a normalized modication column vector whose element Dx(k) is the modication ratio of parameter j Dp(k)/p(k), j j
Dp(k) 1 p(k) 1 (k) Dp2 (k) p2 M Dp(k) J p(k) J

in which Dy(k) is a column vector whose element Dy(k) is the i normalized mist between the observed and theoretical H/V ratios, [(H/V)mi (H/V)(k)]/(H/V)mi : Si
(k) (H/V)m1 (H/V)S1 (H/V)m1 (k) (H/V)m2 (H/V)S2 (H/V)m2

Dx(k)

(29)

Dy(k)

M M (H/V)mI (H/V)mI (H/V)(k) SI

(27)
and W is an I I diagonal matrix whose diagonal element is a weighting factor wi : w1 w2 W 0 0 O . O wI

A(k) is an I J matrix whose elements a(k) are a kind of ij nondimensional partial derivative of the theoretical H/V ratio (H/V)(k) for the parameter pj(k) and basically equivalent to Si the sensitivity of the (H/V)S (D in equation 24):
p(k) (H/V)(k) p(k) (H/V)(k) 1 S1 2 S1 L (H/V)m1 p1 (H/V)m1 p2 p(k) (H/V)(k) 1 S2 O (H/V)m2 p1 M M p(k) 1 (H/V)mI (H/V)(k) SI p1 L O L p(k) J (H/V)mI p(k) (H/V)(k) J S1 (H/V)m1 pJ M M M (H/V)(k) SI pJ .

(30)

A(k)

(28)

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

59 1972; Yuan and Nazarian, 1993). In this technique, the diagonal components of the matrix K in equation (35), kjj 1, are replaced by (kjj c/kjj) 1, in which c is called Marquardts factor. The determination procedure for c in the modied Marquardts technique can be found elsewhere (e.g., Fletcher, 1971). When Marquardts technique is not necessary, the value of c should be set to zero. From equations (34) and (29), the updated soil layer model for the (k 1)th iteration, P(k 1), is then determined as Dp(k) 1 P(k
1)

The inverse analysis of the H/V spectrum is highly at risk of divergence during its iteration process because the variation of the observed H/V value with frequency is complicated. To reduce the risk of divergence and to stabilize the iteration process, the adaptive biweight estimation (Tukey, 1974), which is a kind of the maximum likelihood (robust) estimation, is applied for the H/V inversion. Based on the methodology of the adaptive biweight estimation, the weighting factor in equation (30), wi, can be determined by 1 0, zi 2 , gf when |zi | when |zi | gf gf ,

wi where

(31)
P(k)

Dp(k) 2 M Dp(k) J

(36)

zi

Dy(k) i (Dy(k))T Dy(k) I

6, (f 5) 10, (5 f 100), 20, (100 f)

(32)
This iteration procedure is repeated until the error ratio criterion e, which is the root mean of the sum of the squares of the normalized mist, that is, F, is converged into an acceptably small value and the updated soil layer model is considered to the nal solution (see Fig. 5). 1 I
I i 1

median {|zi |}.

To solve equation (26), the singular value decomposition method (Golub and Reinsch, 1970) is used in this study. The decomposition of the matrix WA(k) leads to a product of three matrices: WA(k) UKVT,

(33)

(H/V)mi (H/V)Si 2 . (H/V)mi

(37)

where U and V are I I and J J matrices, respectively, and K is an I J matrix that has the singular values of WA(k), kjj, in the diagonal elements of the matrix. Substituting equation (33) into equation (26) and utilizing the orthogonal property of U and V matrices, the normalized modication vector Dx(k) to be solved is Dx(k) VKUTWDy(k),

In the nal stage of the inversion when the e value in equation (37) gets small without any divergence, each weighting factor wi in equation (30) is set equal to 1 to switch the biweight estimation to the ordinal one. Standard Evaluation Error When the normalized modication vector Dx(k) in equation (34) is computed with Marquardts technique, the standard error rj of the parameter pj can be estimated through the following formula (e.g., Wiggins, 1972; Matsuura and Hirata, 1982; Horike, 1985; Yuan and Nazarian, 1993): rj pj
Q

(34)

in which VKUT is the MoorePenrose generalized inverse of the matrix WA(k) and K is a J I matrix: k111 k22 K 0
1

0 O
1 kQQ

d
q 1

kqq
jq 2 kqq

(38)

, 0 O 0

(35)

where 1 I J
i I 1

(H/V)mi (H/V)Si 2 , (H/V)mi

(39)

where Q is the rank of the matrix WA(k) ( J), which is determined through the sharp cutoff approach (Wiggins, 1972). In solving equation (34), the modied Marquardts technique (Marquardt, 1963; Fletcher, 1971) is combined with the singular value decomposition method (e.g., Wiggins,

mjq is the ( j, q) element of the V matrix, and Q is the rank of the WA matrix ( J). When the evaluated standard error ratio of the inverted value, rj /pj in equation (38), is sufciently small, for example, less than about 0.10.2, the uniqueness of the solution could be assumed.

60

H. Arai and K. Tokimatsu

Figure 6.

Comparison of the H/V spectra of microtremors (open circles) with those of surface waves (solid lines) for the inverted soil proles at sites AF in Tokyo, Japan.

Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum for VS Proling

To examine the effectiveness of the proposed inversion, the microtremor H/V spectra obtained at six sites in Tokyo (sites A and B and four additional sites [C, D, E, and F]) are used. The measurement system and conditions employed at sites CF were the same as those used at sites A and B. The microtremor H/V spectra at these sites are shown in Figure 6 as open circles. The standard deviations of the observed H/V data are the same as those shown in Tokimatsu (1997). The H/V peak period varies from 0.2 to 1.6 sec but is always shorter than the natural period of about 7 sec for the deep

VS structure of the Tokyo area (Table 1). This suggests that the observed microtremor H/V spectra, including their peak periods, reect the characteristics of shallow VS structures at the sites (Tokimatsu and Miyadera, 1992; Tokimatsu, 1997). Based on the H/V peak periods and the sensitivity of the H/V spectrum, the following assumptions are made for the inversion: (1) the soil prole down to a depth of 3000 m at each site consists of a six- to seven-layered half-space, (2) the deep soil layers below a depth of 100 m are those shown in Table 1, and (3) the VS values of the shallow soil layers above a depth of 100 m (with VS less than 700 m/sec) are predetermined from the results of borehole tests at the sites.

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

61

Figure 7. Comparison of shallow S-wave velocity proles inverted from the microtremor H/V spectra (solid lines) with those from the results of PS logs (broken lines, after Tokimatsu, 1997) at sites AF. Also shown in the gure in chained lines are the standard errors of thickness in the soil layer models evaluated in the inversion. This leaves only three or four unknown thicknesses of the shallow soil layers to be sought in the inversion. Figure 7 shows the inverted shallow S-wave velocity proles at sites AF, with the standard errors of the layer thickness. Also shown in the gure as the broken line is the available PS log from Tokimatsu (1997). In the gure, the inverted VS prole is shown in the depth range of the PS log at each site. The inverted shallow S-wave velocity proles are fairly consistent with those from the downhole method. In particular, the inversion has identied the depths of the layer boundaries where VS changes drastically. The standard error ratios of the estimated thickness are generally less than 0.1 with a maximum of about 0.2, suggesting that the estimated proles could be reasonably reliable.

62 The solid line in Figure 6 is the theoretical H/V spectrum of surface waves computed for the inverted soil prole at each site. With the root mean square values less than 0.2, the computed H/V spectrum shows fairly good agreement with the observed spectrum at all sites. This is another indication that the inverse analyses have been performed with a reasonable degree of accuracy. In the above inversion, the variation of thickness of shallow layers was sought, given the VS values of the corresponding layers. To conrm whether the converse is true, that is, the variation of VS can be sought with known thickness values, we made similar analyses for the six sites and found that the results hold almost the same reliability and accuracy. Thus, it is concluded that the proposed inversion of microtremor H/V spectra is promising for estimating VS proles, provided that either layer thickness or S-wave velocity is known.

H. Arai and K. Tokimatsu

References
Aki, K. (1957). Space and time spectra of stationary stochastic waves, with special reference to microtremors, Bull. Earthquake Res. Inst. Tokyo Univ. 35, 415456. Arai, H., and K. Tokimatsu (2000). Effects of Rayleigh and Love waves on microtremor H/V spectra, Proc. 12th World Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, paper 2232, CD-ROM. Capon, J. (1969). High-resolution frequency-wavenumber spectrum analysis, Geophysics 34, no. 1, 2138. Dorman, J., and M. Ewing (1962). Numerical inversion of seismic surface wave dispersion data and crustmantle structure in the New York Pennsylvania area, J. Geophys. Res. 67, no. 13, 52275241. Fletcher, R. (1971). A modied Marquardt subroutine for nonlinear least squares, Harwell Report, AERE-R 6799. Golub, G. H., and C. Reinsch (1970). Singular value decomposition and least squares solutions, Numer. Math. 14, 403420. Harkrider, D. G. (1964). Surface waves in multilayered elastic media, part 1, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 54, no. 2, 627679. Harvey, D. J. (1981). Seismogram synthesis using normal mode superposition, Geophys. J. R. Astr. Soc. 66, 3769. Haskell, N. A. (1953). The dispersion of surface waves on multi-layered media, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 43, no. 1, 1734. Hisada, Y., S. Yamamoto, and S. Tani (1991). An analytical method for Love wave eld generated in alluvial valley and sedimentary basin, J. Struct. Constr. Eng. 419, 135143 (in Japanese with English abstract). Horike, M. (1985). Inversion of phase velocity of long-period microtremors to the S-wavevelocity structure down to the basement in urbanized area, J. Phys. Earth 33, 5996. Horike, M. (1993). Studies on microtremors, J. Seism. Soc. Japan, Ser. 2, 46, 343350 (in Japanese with English abstract). Lachet, C., and P. Y. Bard (1994). Numerical and theoretical investigations on the possibilities and limitations of Nakamuras technique, J. Phys. Earth 42, 377397. Marquardt, D. W. (1963). An algorithm for least squares estimation on nonlinear parameters, J. Soc. Indust. Appl. Math. 11, 431441. Matsushima, T., and H. Okada (1990a). Determination of deep geological structures under urban areas, BUTSURI-TANSA 43, no. 1, 2133. Matsushima, T., and H. Okada (1990b). An exploration method using microtremors, part 2: An experiment to identify Love waves in longperiod microtremors, Proc. of the 82nd SEGJ Conf., 58 (in Japanese). Matsuura, M., and N. Hirata (1982). Generalized least-squares solutions to quasi-linear inverse problems with prior information, J. Phys. Earth 30, 451468. Nakamura, Y. (1989). A method for dynamic characteristics estimation of subsurface using microtremor on the ground surface, Q. Rep. Railway Tech. Res. Inst. 30, no. 1, 2533. Regan, J., and D. G. Harkrider (1989). Seismic representation theorem coupling: synthetic SH mode sum seismograms for non-homogeneous path, Geophys. J. 98, 429446. Shima, E., M. Yanagisawa, K. Kudo, K. Seo, and K. Yamazaki (1976). On the base rock of Tokyo, part 2, Bull. Earthquake Res. Inst. Tokyo Univ. 51, 4561 (in Japanese with English abstract). Tamura, S. (1996). Comparison of body and Rayleigh wave displacements generated by a vertical point force on a layered elastic medium, Proc. 11th World Conf. Earthquake Engineering, paper 1722, CD-ROM. Tokimatsu, K. (1997). Geotechnical site characterization using surface waves, Proc. 1st Intl. Conf. Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 3, 13331368. Tokimatsu, K., and Y. Miyadera (1992). Characteristics of Rayleigh waves in microtremors and their relation to underground structures, J. Struct. Constr. Eng. 439, 8187 (in Japanese with English abstract). Tokimatsu, K., S. Tamura, and H. Kojima (1992a). Effects of multiple modes on Rayleigh wave dispersion, J. Geotech. Eng. ASCE 118, no. 10, 15291543.

Conclusions
We examined a methodology for estimating S-wave velocity proles based on microtremor H/V spectra, which can be obtained from a conventional measurement using only one three-component sensor. The results of the examinations are summarized as follows: 1. The theoretical formulas for computing the H/V spectra of surface waves propagating on a layered half-space have been derived, in which the effects of the fundamental and higher modes are taken into account. The theoretical H/V spectra of surface waves show good agreement with those of microtremors observed at several sites. 2. Based on the sensitivity analysis, it is revealed that the thickness and S-wave velocity parameter of the shallow soil layers have the most signicant effect on the H/V spectra of surface waves. 3. Using the theoretical formulas, an inverse analysis of microtremor H/V data is presented for estimating shallow S-wave velocity proles of subsurface soils, provided that either the VS values or the thicknesses are known. 4. The inverse analyses are performed using the H/V spectra observed at six sites, and their shallow soil proles down to a depth of 100 m (with VS less than 700 m/sec) are estimated. The inverted S-wave velocity proles are consistent with the PS logs at the sites, with average standard error ratios of 0.1, conrming that the proposed inversion is promising.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Prof. Robert Abbott, one of the reviewers, for his courteous reviewing of the manuscript. Comments and suggestions by the reviewer were helpful to improve the manuscript.

S-Wave Velocity Proling by Inversion of Microtremor H/V Spectrum

Tokimatsu, K., K. Shinzawa, and S. Kuwayama (1992b). Use of shortperiod microtremors for VS proling, J. Geotech. Eng. ASCE 118, no. 10, 15441588. Tsuboi, S., and M. Saito (1983). Partial derivatives of Rayleigh wave particle motion, J. Phys. Earth 31, 103113. Tukey, J. E. (1974). Introduction to todays data analysis, Proc. of the Conference on Critical Evaluation of Chemical and Physical Structural Information, D. R. Lide, Jr., and M. A. Paul (Editors), National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., 314. Wiggins, R. A. (1972). The general linear inversion problem: implication of surface waves and free oscillations for earth structure, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys. 10, no. 1, 251285. Yamanaka, H., M. Takemura, H. Ishida, and M. Niwa (1994). Characteristics of long-period microtremors and their applicability in exploration of deep sedimentary layers, Bull. Seism. Soc. Am. 84, no. 6, 1831 1841. Yuan, D., and S. Nazarian (1993). Automated surface wave method: inversion technique, J. Geotech. Eng. ASCE 119, no. 7, 11121126. Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Research Center National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention 4th Floor, Human Renovation Museum 1-5-2 Wakinohama-kaigan-dori, Chuo-ku Kobe, Hyogo 651-0073, Japan arai@edm.bosai.go.jp (H.A.) Department of Architecture and Building Engineering Graduate School of Science and Engineering Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 O-okayama, Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8552, Japan kohji@o.cc.titech.ac.jp (K.T.) Manuscript received 5 February 2003.

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