A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn

Emma Pearce; Adam D. Booth; Sebastian Rost; Paul Sava; Tuǧrul Konuk; Alex Brisbourne; Bryn Hubbard; Ian Jones

doi:10.1017/aog.2023.10

A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn

Emma Pearce^*, Adam D. Booth, Sebastian Rost, Paul Sava, Tuǧrul Konuk, Alex Brisbourne, Bryn Hubbard, Ian Jones

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Geography and Earth Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted seismic arrivals. However, HWI is appropriate only for steady-state firn profiles and the inversion accuracy can be compromised where firn contains ice layers. In these cases, Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) can be more successful than HWI. FWI extends HWI capabilities by considering the full seismic waveform and incorporates reflected arrivals, thus offering a more accurate estimate of a velocity profile. We show the FWI characterisation of the velocity model has an error of only 1.7% for regions (vs. 4.2% with HWI) with an ice slab (20 m thick, 40 m deep) in an otherwise steady-state firn profile.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	44-48
Number of pages	5
Journal	Annals of Glaciology
Volume	63
Issue number	87-89
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.10 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.20765350
Publication status	Published - 20 Mar 2023

Keywords

glacier geophysics
glacier modelling
polar firn
seismics
seismology

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1017/aog.2023.10Licence: CC BY
10.6084/m9.figshare.20765350Licence: CC BY

ArticleFinal published version, 1.08 MBLicence: CC BY

Permanent link

Persistent link

Cite this

@article{510c6b7fe3d8410aa79d9fcad9b01b35,

title = "A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn",

abstract = "The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted seismic arrivals. However, HWI is appropriate only for steady-state firn profiles and the inversion accuracy can be compromised where firn contains ice layers. In these cases, Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) can be more successful than HWI. FWI extends HWI capabilities by considering the full seismic waveform and incorporates reflected arrivals, thus offering a more accurate estimate of a velocity profile. We show the FWI characterisation of the velocity model has an error of only 1.7% for regions (vs. 4.2% with HWI) with an ice slab (20 m thick, 40 m deep) in an otherwise steady-state firn profile.",

keywords = "glacier geophysics, glacier modelling, polar firn, seismics, seismology",

author = "Emma Pearce and Booth, {Adam D.} and Sebastian Rost and Paul Sava and Tuǧrul Konuk and Alex Brisbourne and Bryn Hubbard and Ian Jones",

note = "Funding Information: This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, under Industrial CASE Studentship NE/P009429/1 with CASE funding from ION-GXT. Additional support was obtained from The International Association of Mathematical Geoscientists. Comments from two anonymous reviewers greatly benefitted the preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The International Glaciological Society.",

year = "2023",

month = mar,

day = "20",

doi = "10.1017/aog.2023.10",

language = "English",

volume = "63",

pages = "44--48",

journal = "Annals of Glaciology",

issn = "0260-3055",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "87-89",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn

AU - Pearce, Emma

AU - Booth, Adam D.

AU - Rost, Sebastian

AU - Sava, Paul

AU - Konuk, Tuǧrul

AU - Brisbourne, Alex

AU - Hubbard, Bryn

AU - Jones, Ian

N1 - Funding Information: This research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, under Industrial CASE Studentship NE/P009429/1 with CASE funding from ION-GXT. Additional support was obtained from The International Association of Mathematical Geoscientists. Comments from two anonymous reviewers greatly benefitted the preparation of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The International Glaciological Society.

PY - 2023/3/20

Y1 - 2023/3/20

N2 - The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted seismic arrivals. However, HWI is appropriate only for steady-state firn profiles and the inversion accuracy can be compromised where firn contains ice layers. In these cases, Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) can be more successful than HWI. FWI extends HWI capabilities by considering the full seismic waveform and incorporates reflected arrivals, thus offering a more accurate estimate of a velocity profile. We show the FWI characterisation of the velocity model has an error of only 1.7% for regions (vs. 4.2% with HWI) with an ice slab (20 m thick, 40 m deep) in an otherwise steady-state firn profile.

AB - The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted seismic arrivals. However, HWI is appropriate only for steady-state firn profiles and the inversion accuracy can be compromised where firn contains ice layers. In these cases, Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) can be more successful than HWI. FWI extends HWI capabilities by considering the full seismic waveform and incorporates reflected arrivals, thus offering a more accurate estimate of a velocity profile. We show the FWI characterisation of the velocity model has an error of only 1.7% for regions (vs. 4.2% with HWI) with an ice slab (20 m thick, 40 m deep) in an otherwise steady-state firn profile.

KW - glacier geophysics

KW - glacier modelling

KW - polar firn

KW - seismics

KW - seismology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85151459868&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1017/aog.2023.10

DO - 10.1017/aog.2023.10

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85151459868

SN - 0260-3055

VL - 63

SP - 44

EP - 48

JO - Annals of Glaciology

JF - Annals of Glaciology

IS - 87-89

ER -

A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Permanent link

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this