Centerless circular array method: Inferring phase velocities of Rayleigh waves in broad wavelength ranges using microtremor records

The centerless circular array (CCA) method, proposed by ourselves in an earlier work, is an algorithm of microtremor exploration which can be used to estimate phase velocities of Rayleigh waves by analyzing vertical component records of microtremors that are obtained with an array of three or five seismic sensors placed around a circumference. We have confirmed, through field tests, the applicability of our CCA method to arrays on the order of several to several hundred meters in radii and have revealed its remarkably high performance in long-wavelength ranges, the upper resolution limit extending as far as several 10 times the array radius. We have also invented a mathematical model that enables to evaluate signal-to-noise ratios in a given microtremor field. Scrutiny of field data has borne out our hypothesis that noise is the principal factor that biases the analysis results of the CCA method in long-wavelength ranges and that its longest resolvable wavelength is determined by the signal-to-noise ratio. Combined use of the CCA method and our new method of signal-to-noise ratio analysis provides a powerful methodological tool that allows one to extract maximal information from microtremor records obtained with a simple seismic array.