Revisiting levees in southern Texas using Love-wave multichannel analysis of surface waves with the high-resolution linear Radon transform

AbstractShear-wave velocities were estimated at a levee site by inverting Love waves using the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method augmented with the high-resolution linear Radon transform (HRLRT). The selected site was one of five levee sites in southern Texas chosen for the evaluation of several seismic data-analysis techniques readily available in 2004. The methods included P- and S-wave refraction tomography, Rayleigh- and Love-wave surface-wave analysis using MASW, and P- and S-wave cross-levee tomography. The results from the 2004 analysis revealed that although the P-wave methods provided reasonable and stable results, the S-wave methods produced surprisingly inconsistent shear-wave velocity VS estimates and trends compared with previous studies and borehole investigations. In addition, the Rayleigh-wave MASW method was nearly useless within the levee due to the sparsity of high frequencies in fundamental-mode surface waves and complexities associated with inverting higher modes. T...