GEOPHYSICS, VOL. 56, NO. 7 (JULY 1991); P. 1058-1060, 1 FIG.

Short Note

Instantaneous frequency and amplitude at the envelope peak of a

constant-phase wavelet

A. E. Barnes*

INTRODUCTION Taking the derivative of this with respect to time and

dividing by z(t) gives
Robertson and Nogami (1984) have shown that the instan-
taneous frequency at the peak of a zero-phase Ricker wave-
let is exactly equal to that wavelet’s average Fourier spectral
frequency weighted by its amplitude spectrum. Bodine
(3)
(1986) gave an example which shows this is also true for
constant-phase bandpass wavelets. Here I prove that this
holds for any constant-phase wavelet. I then develop an
equation expressing this quantity as a function of propaga- The term on the left may be expressed as
tion time through an attenuating medium. A corresponding
equation is derived for the amplitude of the envelope peak. z(t)’ d
~=_
Taken together, these may aid in the analysis of seismic data In z(t),
z(t) dt
as suggested by Robertson and Nogami (1984), Bodine
(1986), and Robertson and Fisher (1988).
= i In [ai ew (_i%(tI)l,
INSTANTANEOUS FREQUENCY AT ENVELOPE PEAK

Let z(t) represent an analytic wavelet with constant phase,

and let its Fourier transform be Z(f). Because z(t) is = G [In a,(t) + jl3,(t)]. (4)
analytic, Z(f) is zero for negative frequencies. Both z(t) and
Z(j) may be expressed as the product of an amplitude Defining the instantaneous decay rate Oi(t) as
function with a phase function:
d
z(t) = ai exp (jOi(t and a;(t) =; In q(t), (3

Z(f) = AU) exn (j+,), (1) and the instantaneous frequency fi(t) as
where a,(t) is the instantaneous amplitude (trace envelope),
n,(t) is the instantaneous phase, A(f) is the amplitude J;(t) = ; f 0,(t) (6)
spectrum, and c$~is the phase spectrum, which here is an
arbitrary constant. To avoid linear phase terms, without loss
(e.g., Taner et al., 1979), equation (4) can be rewritten as
of generality, I take the center of the wavelet to be at t = 0.
By the inverse Fourier transform, z(t)’
~ = a;(t) + j2Tfi(t). (7)
z(t)

At time t = 0 the envelope is

Manuscriptreceivedby the Editor August 10, 1990; revised manuscript received December 20. 1990.
*Institute for the Study of,the Continents (INSTOC) and Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853;
presently Genie Mineral, Ecole Polytechnique, C.P. 6079, Succursale “A”. Montreal. Quebec H3C 3A7.
0 1991 Society of Exploration Geophysicists. All rights reserved.

1058
 Frequency and Amplitude at Envelope Peak 1059

ai = = AU’) dh (8)
(a) PEAR FREQUENCY DECAY

this is a global maximum, the “envelope peak,” so the decay

rate is zero: ~~(0) = 0. Putting this together with equations
(7) and (3) yields the desired result:

fi(0) = O
‘ (9)

JO

In words, the instantaneous frequency of a constant-phase BANDWlDTH

8-32 Hz
wavelet taken at its envelope peak is equal to its average I I
Fourier spectral frequency weighted by its amplitude spec- 12 16
0 4
trum. TIMEB(s)

EFFECT OF ATTENUATION @I PEAK AMPLITUDE DECAY

1
Equation (9) can be rewritten as a function of wavelet
traveltime t; here t is the arrival time of the envelope peak of
the wavelet and is not the same as the t of the preceding
section, which expressesrecord time within a wavelet rela-
tive to the envelope peak. Let A(t, J’) be the amplitude
spectrum of the wavelet after traveltime r and let&(t) be the
instantaneous frequency at its envelope peak. Now equation
(9) may be expressed as

f/J(t) =
I(’o;fA(r, f’) 4
(10)
sPBErucAL.wAvEFBowr
BANDWIDTH8-32 Hz

= A(r.f) df
0 4 12 16
Equation (IO) can be used to calculate the envelope-peak TIMEB (s)

instantaneous frequency of a constant-phase wavelet that

(cl PEAK AMPLITUDE DECAY
has propagated for a time t through a homogeneousattenu-
ating medium with quality factor Q (e.g., Sheriff, 1984, p.
194). A constant-phase wavelet, being noncausal, is not
physically realizable, so I assume that the source wavelet
has been converted to constant phase by an appropriate
phase-rotation operator. Dispersion accompanies the atten-
uation of a propagating wavelet, which causes the phase
spectrum of the wavelet to be a function of time as well as
frequency. Therefore, the phase-rotation operator should be
a function of both time and frequency. However, this time
dependence is probably negligible in reflection seismology
(Toksoz and Johnston, 1981, p. 352) and will be ignored
here. Correlated but undeconvolved vibroseis data should PLANEWAVEF'BONT
BANDWIDTH
8-32 Hz
have nearly zero phase if the phase contributions of the
geophones and recording system are small, and therefore
I I
such data could be suitable for this analysis.
A(t, f) is an instantaneous amplitude spectrum and is 0 4 12 16
given by the familiar expression for Q lossescombined with TIMEB(s)
geometrical spreading lossesfor a spherical wavefront: I. Theoretical decay in frequency and
/.-.amplitude
^ at peak
of isolated constant-phase wavelets. (a) Peak frequency
exp (-nftiQ) decay due to attenuation. (b) Peak amplitude decay due to
A(t,f‘) = A(kf) t 1 (11) attenuation and geometrical spreading. (c) Peak amplitude
decay due to attenuation alone.
1060
where A(0, f) is the amplitude spectrum of the wavelet at
time t = 0. Consider the useful example of an ideal bandpass
wavelet of bandwidth fu to f,, ; A(0. f) is given by
ft <f<fi
A(O,f) = :, f‘<f; orf’>fh,
Substituting equations (1 1) and (12) into equation (IO) and
performing the integrations yields
This equation is plotted in Figure la for a bandwidth of 8 to
32 hertz and for a range of values of Q.
The corresponding equation for the peak instantaneous
amplitude A,(t) is
Ap(t) = = Act, f’) 4:
I 0
Integrating this with the expression for A(t, f’) given above
produces
4(f) = 3 [exp (-TfttlQ) - exp (-Tfhf/Q)].
Equation (15) is plotted in Figure lb for the same bandwidth
and Q values as in Figure la. Multiplying it by the factor t
gives the peak amplitude decay for a plane wave (Figure lc).
Further substitution of the valuesf, = 0 andfh = x into this
resultant equation essentially reduces it to the formula given
by Claerbout (1985, p. 234).
DISCUSSION
For a wavelet with constant phase, the instantaneous
frequency taken at its envelope peak is exactly equal to the
average Fourier spectral frequency weighted by the ampli-
tude spectrum. Saha (1987) has shown that this is approxi-
mately true of any wavelet. For a wavelet propagating
through an attenuating medium, this frequency decreases as
Barnes
a function of traveltime. For the example of an initially ideal
bandpass source wavelet, equations (13) and (15) express
decay in envelope-peak frequencies and amplitudes on seis-
mic data as a function of traveltime. They can serve as an aid
in frequency analysis of isolated wavelets on undeconvolved
(12) and ungained seismic data along the lines advocated by
Bodine (1986) and Robertson and Fisher (1988). However, it
is difficult to establish whether or not a given recorded
wavelet is truly isolated, that is, free of interference from
other wavelets. Noise cannot be included in this analysis
because it is random whereas the envelope-peak frequency
and amplitude arc strictly deterministic quantities. The re-
striction that the wavelets be constant-phase may pose
another practical difficulty. The shortcomings of analysis of
envelope-peak frequencies and amplitudes can be avoided
by analysis of average frequencies and amplitudes (Barnes,
1990), though averaging comes at the expense of resolution.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
(14)
This work was supported by National Science Foundation
grants EAR-84- 18 I57 and EAR-86-09992. IN STOC contribu-
tion 147.
(15)
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