GeoSS - 17 August Webinar Slides

• Group leader, R&D Center in Technical Planning Division, OYO Corporation
• 2019 - ISO/TC182 Expert member of WG 9 (Geotechnical aspects of

geophysical methods), and a convener since May 2023.
• 2022 - Director of SEGJ
• 2023 – Pacific region representative of SEG
Content
1. Introduction
• Geophysical methods
• Microtremor array exploration
2. Case studies of 2D/3D microtremor explorations
3. Experimental results of time-lapse (4D) monitoring
© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 2

JAPAN UNITED STATES
UNITED
KINGDOM
FRANCE
SINGAPORE
GUAM
GROUP COMPANIES
Geophysical Methods
• Non-destructive, remote investigation methods
• Various types of surveys
• Seismic (Acoustic, ultrasonic) Today’s talk: only seismic (passive)
• Electric, Electromagnetic, GPR
• Gravity, Temperature etc.
• Subsurface imaging, distribution of subsurface properties. Airborne survey
• Measurement from ground surface, in the sky, under the sea etc.
Subsurface imaging by seismic Subsurface property distribution Cavity, pipe detection by GPR

Active vs. Passive Seismic Surveys
Active survey Passive survey
Vibration sources Weight dropping Vibration from natural & artificial sources.
plant traffic
tide
Vibrator truck
Sledgehammer
Dynamite
Low resolution
output
Depth（m）
High resolution
output
Odoh, B.I., Ilechukwu,
J.N. and Okoli, N.I. Distance(m)
(2014)
Pros.: High resolution, Strong vibration, Strength of the Pros.: Cost-effective, only receivers are required.
vibration is controlled. Cons.: Low resolution, Weak vibration, Cannot control the
Cons.: Expensive, time consuming, need extra items. strength and the frequency of the vibration.

3D Microtremor Array Exploration
3D Microtremor array exploration (Passive seismic method) Depth slice
provides 3D S-wave velocity model by a cost-effective way.
The resolution of the result is lower than that of the reflection Node type
seismic, but it is much easy to carry out in various areas. Seismograph
Geophone
Residential area 640m
0m
100m
520m
Urban area
Roadside
3D S-wave velocity model
6
Why is the S-wave velocity important?
S-wave velocity has a strong correlation to N-value
S-wave velocity is defined by (empirical relationship)
G: Shear modulus,
r: bulk density
G is determined by grain modulus,

porosity, pressure etc.
Simply speaking,
soft/loose soil has low Vs,
stiff/tight soil has high Vs.
Imai and Tonouchi (1982)

Microtremor Array Measurement (ISO Standard)

Conventional Microtremor Array Measurement
【1D Microtremor Array】
S-wave velocity（m/s）
Depth（m）
microtremor Receiver
Result (1D velocity profile)

Our Developed Method
【2D Microtremor Array】
S-wave velocity
（m/s）
Receiver
Result (2D velocity profile)

Our Developed Method
S-wave velocity
【3D Microtremor Array】（m/s）
Receiver
Depth（m）
Distance(m)
Result (3D velocity model)

Field Experiment
April 27, 2018 @ OYO Tsukuba
Y
60m x 150m

Cable-less Seismograph (McSEIS-AT, Atom)
Specifications
channel 1ch, 3ch
Seismograph
A/D 24bit
Gain 0,12,24,36 (dB)
0.25, 0.5, 1,2, 4,
Sampling
10 (ms)
Storage 4GB SD card
L: 142 x W: 140 x
Size
H: 102 (mm) Geophone
Weight 1.6 (kg)

Data Acquisition
Atom
Seismograph
(Geometrics, Inc.)
Natural frequency
2 Hz
of the geophone
No. of receivers 49
Recording time for a
20 minutes
spread
No. of spread 4
Receiver interval 10 m
Sample rate 4 ms

Survey Geometry
• 7 x 7 =49 receivers with 10m interval for one spread
• 4 spreads for 60m x 150m area
• 20 min. observation time for one spread (40 min. for the last spread)
10m
10m Place Atom at

all grid points

Data Analysis (Inversion)
S-wave velocity profile is estimated from the observed phase
velocity (dispersion curve) by solving inverse problem.
S-wave velocity
profile
Phase velocity at each
frequency is called
dispersion curve.
Modified (Foti et al., 2015）

3D S-wave Velocity Model
Low Vs zone corresponding to

the excavated area in the past for
constructing underground space.
50m
S-wave velocity
（m/s）

Verification by Comparing with Other Results
a)
Active surface wave method
-5 Vs the excavated area in
Surface wave the past for
Depth (m)
-0 500
constructing
method 280
5 160
100 underground space
10 40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 (m/s)
b)Min. = 0.000000 Max. = 0.000000 n = 26 (1)
Distance (m)
Depth (m) S-wave velocity
0 500.00
S-wave velocity 5
10 330.00
profile extracted 15 240.00
20
from 3D microtremor 25 160.00
exploration 30 120.00
35
40 80.00
45
50 40.00
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 135 150 (m/sec)
Distance (m)
c) -120 -100 -80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80
0
Seismic reflection -10

Depth (m)
-20
method
-30
-40
-50

Content
1. Introduction
• Applicability in urban area
• Application to a shield tunnel project

Applications of 2D/3D Microtremor Explorations
2D/3D microtremor array explorations have been carried out for many purposes
in the last few years.
• Estimation of supporting layers for building construction.

• Subsurface structure estimation for road design and liquefaction
evaluation.
• Embankment investigation.
• Investigation for shield tunnel routes.
• Investigation for seismic response characterization.
• Bedrock estimation.
• Investigation of cultural heritage buildings etc.
Today’s talk: only the cases in an urban area.

Measurement in Urban Area (2D)
We tried 2D (linear array) microtremor exploration during

daytime in the downtown area.
People were walking, and cars were passing nearby.
It was very busy and not suitable for an active seismic survey.
21
Very good data was obtained, and phase velocity was clearly determined even in the urban area.
Frequency (Hz)
800
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
700
0
Phase velocity (m/s)

600
5
位相速度（m/s）
10
分散曲線 : D:\work\博多\直線４\50－100\FFTBlock_0046.sg2
500
Distance (m)
15
Picked phase velocity
距
400
20
25
離
300
30
(m)
200
35
40
100
45
起振点位置= 0.0m
0
50
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
(Hz) 21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Frequency (Hz)
数
Bule color means small error between observation
and theoretical value.
22
Result of 2D Linear Array（Vs Profile）
Depth (m)
Distance (m)
The estimated Vs profile was consistent with

drilling and exiting geological information.
23
Applicability of the 3D microtremor exploration in an urban area was evaluated at MM21 in
Yokohama city.
Landmark Tower (296m)
Landmark Tower
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Minatomirai_202105.jpg
• Most of the areas in MM21 are reclaimed land.
Presented at 2nd EAGE/SEG Workshop on Geophysical Aspects of Smart Cities(Konishi et al.,2022)

Receiver Positions for Large Array (Grid Array)
• Receiver spacing is about

50 m.
• Private areas are
prohibited from entering,
and the receivers are
1000m placed on only public
roads.
• Divided into 6 sub-arrays.
600m
Receiver Positions for Small Array (Planed)
• Receiver spacing is 10 m.
• 50 receivers are placed along the
accessible roads as linear and L-
shape arrays.
• Total 24 array measurements
1000m were carried out to cover the
survey lines.
600m

Array 2 Array 3 Array 4
25 receivers are overlapped to move the next measurement.

Pictures of Array Measurement

Pictures of Array Measurement

• S-wave velocity model at each CMP-bin is 3D S-wave Velocity Model
obtained by non-linear least square method. S-wave
• 3D S-wave velocity model is constructed by Velocity (m/s)
spatial interpolation. 1000m
• The S-wave velocity of higher than 300 m/s is
observed at shallow subsurface in most areas,
which is due to the soil improvement.
150m
600m

Depth Slices
Y (m)
Depth 20−25m Y (m)
Depth 50−55m
S-wave velocity S-wave velocity
-3968035.46161 139.62472 35.46482 139.63071
-3968035.46161 139.62472 35.46482 139.63071
600.00 600.00
-39785 580.00 -39785 580.00
560.00 560.00
540.00 540.00
-39890
Park 520.00
500.00
-39890 520.00
500.00
480.00 480.00
-39995 -39995
460.00 460.00
440.00 440.00
-40100 420.00
400.00
-40100 420.00
400.00
Boundary
-40205
380.00
360.00
-40205
380.00
360.00
of a land
-40310
340.00
320.00 -40310
340.00
320.00 reclamation
300.00 300.00
-40415
280.00
260.00 -40415
280.00
260.00
project in
240.00
220.00
240.00
220.00
1970s.
-40520 -40520
200.00 200.00
180.00 180.00
-40625 160.00 -40625 160.00
140.00 140.00
120.00 120.00
-40730 -40730
35.45369 139.63105 35.45690 139.63704
(m/sec) 35.45369 139.63105 35.45690 139.63704
(m/sec)
-48470 -48340 -48210 -48080 -47950 -47820 -48470 -48340 -48210 -48080 -47950 -47820

Application to Shield Tunnel Project
• In October 2020, a road collapse occurred in a residential area in Chofu-
city, Tokyo.
• The location was on a route of a shield tunnel for an underground
highway more than 40m depth from the surface.
• Subsequently, three cavities are found by drilling around 10 - 20 m depth.
• For investigating 2D/3D underground structures to capture unstable
underground, 3D microtremor array exploration was conducted.
Profile cavity cavity cavity
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQODG
Plan view 1135Q0R10C21A2000000/
Road collapse (modified NEXCO East Report)

3D Microtremor array measurement provides 3D Vs model.
2D profiles can be extracted from the 3D model.

S-wave velocity profile along tunnel route was Road collapse
extracted from the 3D S-wave velocity model.
Tiny dots are the receiver points.
Shield tunnel route
cavity cavity cavity

Vs (m/s)
(modified NEXCO East Report)

Low S-wave velocity zones were observed at the collapsed place and near underground
cavities. However, we could NOT know that the low velocity was associated with the tunnel
construction because we only measured after the collapse occurred.
Time Lapse Monitoring (4Dmonitoring)
Vs change associated with the tunnel construction could be Change of s-wave distribution in 2D cross-section
recognized in 3D or 2D profiles along the route if we deployed
many sensors, .
S-wave
velocity
500
330
240
160
120
80
40
95 (m/s)
Direction of
tunnel digging
direction
Plan view
Cross-section
view

Time Lapse Monitoring (4D Monitoring)
Idea of the 4D monitoring during the construction of underground shield tunnel.
Sensors
S-wave velocity
decreased zone
S-wave decreased zone can be identified by the continuous measurement (monitoring).

Content
1. Introduction

Continuous monitoring using cableless seismograph
We developed the monitoring system.
Field Cloud Office

Dispersion curve
Solar battery
Internet
Internet
Database
Linux box with (waveform data)
LTE modem
Real-time Velocity model
processing
Geophone Database
(processing results)
Seismograph
38
Shield Tunnel Construction site (1)
Continuous monitoring
has been carried out by
4 receivers.
15 m
-10 m
35 m
-20 m
15 m Construction
Depth
-30 m (November 2022)

-40 m 15 m
Construction
-50 m (September 2022)
-60 m
3
Repeat Survey (3D Microtremor Exploration)
3D surveys was carried out five times for obtaining 3D S-wave velocity model at each stage.
1 : Before construction（2022/6）
2 : During the construction of A tunnel (2022/9)
3 : After the construction of A tunnel (2022/10) 〇 Receivers
4 : During the construction of B tunnel (2022/11)
5 : After construction（2023/1）
50m
80 receivers are used for the 3D survey.
40
Repeat Survey (3D Microtremor Exploration)
1 : Before construction The points indicate the S-wave velocity decreased area
before and after the tunnel construction.
2 : During the construction of A tunnel
Velocity decrease is about 20 (m/s), which is

no more than 5 %, and comparable to an
error of the data analysis.
Continuous Monitoring for Shield Tunnel Construction
Average velocity change at

the site was measured by only
4 receivers, continuously.

Time-lapse Phase Velocity Change (Average velocity)
A tunnel pass B tunnel pass
through the site. through the site.
• Average velocity decreased between the time of Survey 1 and

Survey 2, and it is consistent with the 3D repeat survey result.
• The change would be associated with the A tunnel construction
Survey 1 Survey 2 Survey 3 Survey 4 Survey 5

(6/27) (9/16) (10/28) (11/25) (1/21)
43
Vibration monitoring during the construction
One week record The vibration level increased as
the tunnel came closer to the
10.0
observation points.
Construction in daytime
RMS amplitude (gal)
1.0
0.01
0.001
44
Vibration monitoring during the construction
1 second
5 gal

Shield Tunnel Construction Site (2)
Continuous monitoring has been carried out by 20 receivers.
Monitoring instrument
setting.
46
Continuous 3D monitoring for tunnel construction
Construction in daytime

CMP grids
33 m
Receivers
105 m
48
Phase velocity at each cell is automatically calculated by the cloud computing.
700 700
600 600
Phase velocity (m/sec)
Phase velocity (m/sec)

500 500
400 400
300 300
200 200
100 100
0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency (Hz)
Frequency (Hz)
If we can use many receivers, 3D model can be

estimated from the monitoring dataset.
S-wave velocity

50 m deep 30 m deep 10 m deep
S-wave
velocity
(m/sec)

Two types of monitoring are available in a web page.
①Vibration level ②Subsurface velocity monitoring
Shield tunnel face
Time and depth can be
changed at web page.
Large vibration during tunnel
construction Velocity change
Depth: 30m
increased
H1: EW
H2: NS location and
V: Vertical Date of tunnel
face.
Acceleration（gal）
decreased
5/10 10:00am 5/10 4:00pm

Tunnel construction
earthquake
earthquake
Log10(Acceleration)（gal）
5/10 11:21am JST 5/11 4:16am JST

Phase velocity at Phase velocity at

（0:0）（3:2）
700 700 700 700
600
2023/04/27 2023/05/12 2023/04/27 2023/05/12
600 600 600
500 500 500 500
400 400 400 400
300 300 300 300
200 200 200 200

Picked phase
100
velocity 100 100 100
0 0 0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Frequency（Hz） Frequency（Hz） Frequency（Hz） Frequency（Hz）

Numerical Simulation
Performing 3D FDM simulation is important to predict the observation and to evaluate the
stability of the ground during the shield tunnel construction.
Depth (m)
Distance (m)
Simulation of microtremor exploration using 3D finite difference method to study

the effect of velocity anomaly on the observed phase velocity (Suzuki et al.,
2021,SEGJ Intl. Symposium)

In the case of considering only 16 m x 16 m cavity.
Model A (No cavity)

Model A1 (cavity: 30m depth) Not detect
Model A2 (cavity: 20m depth) detect
Inverted Vs model from simulated dataset for Model A3 (cavity: 10m depth) detect
each case.

In the case of considering cavity and concrete
segment.
Inverted Vs model from simulated dataset for Model A (No cavity)

each case. Model A4 (cavity & concrete: 30m depth) Not detect
Model A5 (cavity & concrete: 20m depth) Not detect
Model A6 (cavity & concrete: 10m depth) detect

<Our findings by numerical simulation>

• When the size of the target is larger than the depth of the top of the
low-velocity target(cavity), the low velocity can be detected from
the microtremor array exploration.
• When the concrete segment covers the cavity, it will be difficult to
detect the low-velocity area.
The microtremor array exploration ignores deep shield tunnel

covered by concrete segment, but low velocity at shallow depth
(e.g., loose soil above the tunnel) can be detected.

Proposal of application to 4D monitoring
There are many cases where many measuring instruments cannot be installed densely due to site conditions.
Therefore, we will make proposals using numerical simulations.
(1) Acquire 3D velocity model by 3D microtremor (4) Predict the change in the observed phase velocity in
exploration. Observation advance by numerical simulation using the 3D FDM.
points S-wave velocity decreases
0
-4
-8
-12
-16
-20
-24
-28
-32
-36
-40
0 8 15 23 30 38 45 53 60 68 75
(5) We propose the appropriate number and layout for

(2) Place continuous monitoring system with the continuous monitoring that can obtain phase
a small number of observation points. velocity changes that exceeds the variation in
normal conditions.
(3) Study the variation of phase velocity during day We propose the optimized monitoring for a
and night in normal conditions. shield tunnel project.
Thank you very much.
If you have any questions, please contact to
konishi-chisato@oyonet.oyo.co.jp

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• Group leader, R&D Center in Technical Planning Division, OYO Corporation

• 2019 - ISO/TC182 Expert member of WG 9 (Geotechnical aspects of

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 2

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 4

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 5

Residential area 640m

G is determined by grain modulus,

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 7

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 8

Result (1D velocity profile)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 9

Result (2D velocity profile)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 10

Result (3D velocity model)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 11

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 12

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 13

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 14

10m Place Atom at

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 15

Modified (Foti et al., 2015）

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 16

Low Vs zone corresponding to

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 17

Seismic reflection -10

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 18

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 19

• Estimation of supporting layers for building construction.

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 20

We tried 2D (linear array) microtremor exploration during

Phase velocity (m/s)

The estimated Vs profile was consistent with

Landmark Tower (296m)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 24

• Receiver spacing is about

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 26

25 receivers are overlapped to move the next measurement.

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 27

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 28

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 29

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 30

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 31

Profile cavity cavity cavity

Road collapse (modified NEXCO East Report)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 32

2D profiles can be extracted from the 3D model.

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 33

Shield tunnel route

cavity cavity cavity

(modified NEXCO East Report)

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 35

S-wave decreased zone can be identified by the continuous measurement (monitoring).

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 36

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 37

Field Cloud Office

-30 m (November 2022)

80 receivers are used for the 3D survey.

2 : During the construction of A tunnel

Velocity decrease is about 20 (m/s), which is

Average velocity change at

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 42

• Average velocity decreased between the time of Survey 1 and

Survey 1 Survey 2 Survey 3 Survey 4 Survey 5

© 2023 OYO Corporation, All rights reserved. 45