Seismic P Phase Picking Using a Kurtosis-Based Criterion in the Stationary Wavelet Domain

• Published in: IEEE transactions on geoscience and remote sensing 2008-11, Vol.46 (11), p.3815-3826
• Main Authors: Galiana-Merino, J.J., Rosa-Herranz, J.L., Parolai, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Algorithm design and analysis; Applied geophysics; Discrete wavelet transforms; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Earthquakes, seismology; Event detection; Exact sciences and technology; Higher order statistics; Internal geophysics; Kurtosis; P phase identification; seismic signal processing; Seismology; Signal processing algorithms; Signal to noise ratio; stationary wavelet transform (SWT); Wavelet analysis; Wavelet domain; Wavelet transforms
• ISSN: 0196-2892; 1558-0644
• DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2008.2002647

The seismic P phase first arrival identification is a fundamental problem in seismology. The accurate identification of the P -wave first arrival is not a trivial process, particularly when the seismograms present a very low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or are contaminated with artificial transients that could produce false alarms. In this paper, a new approach based on higher order statistics and the stationary wavelet transform is presented. The P onset is obtained under a statistical criterion applied in the time-frequency domain. The results have been compared to those estimated by another P phase picking algorithm and P onsets picked by expert analysts. The comparison shows that our proposed method efficiently provides a good estimate of the P onset picks that are consistent with analyst picks, particularly in cases of very low SNR.