Passive Source Material Attenuation Estimates from Seismic Measurements with a Two-Dimensional Array of Sensors

Material attenuation is an important dynamic engineering property of soil. Previous seismic surface wave methods for estimating this property have relied on an active source of energy that must be deployed at the site. This paper introduces a passive source method of estimating material attenuation of Rayleigh seismic surface waves. The method utilizes the estimated direction of arrival, phase and amplitude of a wave impinging on a two-dimensional array of sensors to estimate the material attenuation. To demonstrate the procedure, the material attenuation and wavefield models will be shown with simulated and experimental data. Finally, several considerations regarding limitations of this method will be discussed. The procedure is shown to yield good results when applied to the experimental data under consideration.