Automatic S-Phase Picking for Volcano-Tectonic Earthquakes Using Spectral Dissimilarity Analysis

Abstract

We present an S-phase picking algorithm for volcano-tectonic earthquakes (VTs), based on the changes of frequency and amplitude expected in the plane transverse to the ray direction at S-phase arrival. A measure of these changes, called spectral dissimilarity, is proposed. Picking is performed in a particular waveform transformation that underlines such variations foreseen: horizontal instant power. Then, the algorithm provides a measure of its reliability, grounded on the low or high fluctuations of the picking instant obtained when applied to other horizontal components of the seismogram. Experiments are performed to test the algorithm with a challenging database of volcano seismic earthquakes from Mt. Etna, carefully picked and labeled by a human expert. The technique is compared to two well-known S-phase pickers: one based on the damped predominant period analysis and the other based on polarization and kurtosis rate analysis. The algorithm improves these techniques for the particular scenario of VTs, providing interesting results and possibilities of the application.