High-resolution seismic reflection surveying at paved areas using an S-wave type Land Streamer

Abstract

High-resolution S-wave reflection surveying has been successfully conducted on paved areas using a Land Streamer originally designed by the author. The main feature of the Land Streamer tool is the non-stretch woven belt on which geophone units are mounted to form a multichannel geophone array similar to a marine streamer. Because it is easily towed by a vehicle or by hand, the tool leads to high performance in field measurements and resultant cost-effectiveness of high-resolution reflection surveys. Although each geophone unit is coupled to the pavement through a metallic baseplate instead of being firmly planted in the ground, the Land Streamer tool provides comparatively clean data, unaffected by traffic noise even on the pavement. Thus, the tool is capable of expanding the opportunity for S-wave reflection surveys in urban areas where many surfaces are paved and traffic noise is severe. A series of high-resolution S-wave reflection surveys on paved areas delineated detailed structures of surface layers shallower than 60 m, and proved the wide applicability of the tool to engineering, environmental applications, and earthquake disaster prevention projects.