Empirical spectral ratios estimated in two deep sedimentary basins using microseisms recorded by short-period seismometers

In this work, we analyse continuous measurements of microseisms to assess the reliability of the fundamental resonance frequency estimated by means of the horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral ratio within the 0.1-1 Hz frequency range, using short-period sensors (natural period of 1 s). We apply the H/V technique to recordings of stations installed in two alluvial basins with different sedimentary cover thicknesses-the Lower Rhine Embayment (Germany) and the Gubbio Plain (Central Italy). The spectral ratios are estimated over the time-frequency domain, and we discuss the reliability of the results considering both the variability of the microseism activity and the amplitude of the instrumental noise. We show that microseisms measured by short period sensors allow the retrieval of fundamental resonance frequencies greater than about 0.1-0.2 Hz, with this lower frequency bound depending on the relative amplitude of the microseism signal and the self-noise of the instruments. In particular, we show an example where the considered short-period sensor is connected to instruments characterized by an instrumental noise level which allows detecting only fundamental frequencies greater than about 0.4 Hz. Since the frequency at which the peak of the H/V spectral ratio is biased depends upon the seismic signal-to-instrument noise ratio, the power spectral amplitude of instrumental self-noise should be always considered when interpreting the frequency of the peak as the fundamental resonance frequency of the investigated site.