Plan for refraction seismic measurements at Bjrklinge, Oct.

15-17, 2008
Niklas Juhojuntti Department of Earth Sciences Uppsala University Introduction
The following describes the planned procedure for the refraction seismic measurements at Bjrklinge north of Uppsala during October 15-17, as part of the course Environmental and Applied Geophysics. Shallow refraction seismic measurements are commonly used during various types of civil engineering construction projects, such as when constructing hydroelectric power plants, dam sites, railroads etc. Refraction measurements are regularly used by the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) to investigate groundwater reservoirs in quaternary sediments, at depths on the order of a few tens of meters. The measurement procedure that we will use should be suitable for a number of shallow targets, although the geophone separation has to be adjusted depending on the investigation depth. We also plan to perform reflection seismic measurements at the Bjrklinge site, but these are not described here. The practical procedure for these measurements is quite similar to the refraction measurements, although we will use much denser geophone and shot point layouts for the reflection measurements.

Field operations
The refraction measurements will be carried out using two 24-channel seismographs, of type Geode. These seismographs use a laptop PC for setting the recording parameters, as well as for noise monitoring and for displaying and storing data (there are also similar seismographs that do not require an external PC). The actual ground motion is recorded by 48 geophones (Fig. 1), connected to the seismographs via four 12-channel geophone cables. We plan to use a geophone separation of 5 m, making the total length of the geophone spread 235 meters (Fig. 2). The shot points will be distributed in some appropriate fashion along the geophone spread. We will place at least 5 shot points along the spread. We will also place so called long shots beyond the edges of the spread, in order to record the arrivals from the deepest refractors. The actual

Figure 1. Photo showing spike geophones, similar to those that will be used for our measurements.

positions of the long shots depend on the depth of the refractors as well as logistical factors. In order to generate the signal we will use two types of seismic source: dynamite and acceleratedweight drop. We will seek to use the weight-drop source as much as possible, but likely we will need to use dynamite at longer recording distances. When using the weight-drop source the signal will be generated by repeatedly hitting an aluminium plate placed on the ground, perhaps 6-8 times at each

Figure 2. Planned layout of seismic refraction measurement at Bjrklinge. Red dots geophones; blue stars - shot points; green boxes seismographs (Geode instruments). Note that the positions of the shot points are preliminary, and will likely have to be adjusted, depending on logistical factors etc. The positions of the long shots (the shots beyond the edges of the profile) also depend on the depth to the deepest refractor. The illustration does not show the cables connecting the geophones to the seismographs as well as the seismographs to each other.

shot point (note that we use the term shot point for weight-drop source positions as well as dynamite shot positions). For the weight-drop source the recording is triggered via radio link between the seismographs and the source. When using dynamite charges the explosions are initiated by an electric current, which also triggers the recording. For very shallow surveys it can be enough to repeatedly hit the metal plate placed on the ground with a sledgehammer. In this case the acquisition is triggered either by placing a trigger geophone close to the strike point or by clamping a trigger device to the hammer. This method will most likely not give sufficient seismic energy for our measurements. The measurements are carried according to the following steps: 1. Laying out the geophone spread. The geophones are placed along a straight line, using a measurement tape to get the correct separation between the geophones, in our case 5 meters. The geophones are connected to the ground via a spike (Fig. 1). Make sure that the geophone spike has firm contact with the ground. In some cases it may be necessary to remove some of the loose material at the ground surface in order to get better contact. Also try to mount the geophones as close to vertical as possible (not much more than 10o from vertical). After mounting the geophones these should be connected to the 12-channel geophone cables. Note that we will be using geophone cables designed for a geophone separation of 10 meters, so there will be excess cable. We should try to put all excess cable on one side of the spread, so that the weight-drop source can be moved more easily on the other side. 2. Connecting the geophone cables to the Geodes. Two 12-channel geophone cables are connected to each seismograph (Geode). The seismographs are then connected to each other and to the laptop PC via long cables. After connecting each seismograph to an external battery (12 V) all instruments are powered up. After having established contact between the PC and the seismographs it is necessary to check that all geophones are in function, normally it is enough to stomp with one foot on the

ground and check that all geophones respond. 3. Loading the dynamite charges. The dynamite charges will be placed in shallow holes (normally less than 1 m deep). It is advisable to vary the charge sizes, along the central part of the profile the charges can be much smaller than at the ends of the profile, since the amplitude of the wave is inversely proportional to the distance between the shot point and the geophone. 4. Recording data. As mentioned earlier, we will use both the weight-drop source and dynamite to generate the signal. After firing each shot, the signal-to-noise ratio must be checked. It is not uncommon having to repeat shot points due to poor signal, for example when shooting in loose sand. If the measurements indicate that the depth to the deepest refractor (normally the bedrock) is large it can be necessary to extend the long shots further beyond the profile edges. 5. Data backup. After finishing the recording and before switching off the PC, it is advisable to copy the data to a USB memory. 6. Measuring the elevation changes along the profile. Unless the terrain is very flat, it is necessary to measure the variation in the elevation along the profile. Normally this is performed using a leveling instrument. Simple GPS instruments will not provide elevation data with sufficient accuracy. If the elevation variations are smooth it can be enough to measure the elevation at every second or third geophone. Note that the leveling will only give the variation in the elevation. In order to get the absolute elevation along the geophone spread it is necessary to have some point with known absolute elevation in the vicinity. 7. Picking up equipment and restoring shot points. After picking up the geophones, they should be counted and put together in bunches of 12 each. Each geophone cable is collected by one person walking along the spread while winding up the cable (the cable can be damaged if it is dragged along its entire length). Finally all shot points should be checked and, if necessary, restored. Depending on the number of persons involved in the measurements, it can be practical to change the order of operations, or perform several of the steps above simultaneously. The geophone spread can for example be laid out at the same time as the dynamite charges are loaded.

Data interpretation
There are a variety of different methods for interpreting seismic refraction data. These will not be described here, since detailed descriptions of the different interpretation methods can be found in several textbooks, such as Parasnis (1998). The following text first describes a quick method to estimate refractor depths, which can be used already in the field. Some general comments about the data interpretation are also given, since the choice of interpretation method affects the data acquisition to a certain degree. For the interpretation of the Bjrklinge refraction data, we will have access to one license of the software SeisImager, which is a part of the Geode software package. SeisImager includes most of the interpretation functionality described below. First, a very simple interpretation method will be described, one which can be used to get quick estimates in the field by manually inspecting the seismograms on the computer screen (this method is not included in SeisImager). For a simple two-layer case the thickness h of the upper layer is given by v 2 v1 2 v +v 2 1 where v1 and v 2 are the layer velocities and xc the cross-over distance (Fig. 3). For an often
x h= c 2
1

encountered situation in which dry sand is overlying water-saturated sand the velocities v1 and v 2 would typically be around 400 respectively 1600 m/s. The thickness of the upper layer is then given by h 0.39 xc .

The numerical value in the equation above will vary somewhat depending on the velocities, but normally it will be around 0.3-0.4, and the value can never exceed 0.5.

Figure 3. Schematic illustration of arrival times for a simple two-layer case. Seismic ray-paths are shown in blue.

In practice, one often encounters three layers, from above: a layer of unconsolidated dry sediments with velocity around 300-500 m/s; a layer of water-saturated sediments with velocity around 15002000 m/s; and finally bedrock with much higher velocity, often around 5000 m/s if granitic. For such a three-layer case, it is more complicated to calculate the thickness of the second layer. However, the thickness of the first layer can still be estimated using the equation above. When the subsurface conditions are not varying much laterally it is often possible to achieve good results using interpretation methods that are based on velocity models incorporating a few number of layers with constant velocity but varying thickness, such as the delay-time method. In this case, the number of shot points need not be very large, 4-5 shot points along the spread is likely sufficient (cf. Fig. 2). However, if the subsurface conditions are varying much laterally, or if there are significant variations in the elevation, it can be more appropriate to use velocity tomography, an interpretation method based on models with a large number of small cells. In this case, it is appropriate to increase the number of shot points, and perhaps also the number of geophones. All interpretation methods require that the arrival times of the P-waves are determined. For the type of measurements described above the number of seismograms will not be very large, so the time picking is not very time-consuming. It is advisable to pick the arrival times as carefully as possible, as this will make the interpretation easier. One way to control the quality of the time picks is to use the concept of reciprocity, which states that the geophone and shot positions can be exchanged without changing the time for the wave to travel between these two positions. Some software packages has the facility to carry out tests based on this principle. If this test shows arrival-time differences often exceeding 5% then the time picks should be checked.

It is important to take into account the topography along the geophone spread during the interpretation. The arrival times may show seemingly strange variations, but these can often be explained by variations in the elevation of the ground surface.

Reference
Parasnis, D.S. (1998): Principles of Applied Geophysics. Chapman and Hall, London.