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Bottom seismometer observation of airgun signals at Lopez Island

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Abstract

First arrival compressional wave signals from an airgun source, as detected by a variety of seismometers in a shallow bay, are remarkably uniform. However, minor variations in wavelet appearance imply some combination of the instrument response and coupling to the bottom. Signal spectra show typically a spectral peak at 12 Hz and an envelope very similar to that expected from an airgun source. Those instruments with a decoupled geophone package have spectra most like the theoretical spectrum but spectra for the other instruments are not significantly different. Little variation exists in spectra between tripod-mounted and inverted-pendulum OBS configurations for the low amplitude P-waves observed here. The signal source is the principal influence on the resulting spectra rather than OBS configuration or bottom coupling.

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Author notes

  1. S. H. Johnson

    Present address: Amoco Production Research, PO Box 591, 74102, Tulsa, OK, USA

  2. R. E. McAlister

    Present address: Intel Inc., Hillsboro, OR, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Oceanography, Oregon State University, 97331, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

    S. H. Johnson & R. E. McAlister

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  1. S. H. Johnson
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  2. R. E. McAlister
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Johnson, S.H., McAlister, R.E. Bottom seismometer observation of airgun signals at Lopez Island. Mar Geophys Res 5, 87–94 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310314

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310314

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