noisi: A Python tool for ambient noise cross-correlation modelingand noise source inversion

Abstract. We introduce open-source tool noisi for the forward and inverse modeling of ambient seismic cross-correlations with spatially varying source spectra. It utilizes pre-computed databases of Green’s functions to represent seismic wave propagation between ambient seismic sources and seismic receivers, which can be obtained from existing repositories or imported from the output of wave propagation solvers. The tool was built with the aim of studying ambient seismic sources while accounting for realistic wave propagation effects. Furthermore, it may be used to guide the interpretation of ambient seismic auto- and cross-correlations, which have become pre-eminent seismological observables, in light of non-uniform ambient seismic sources. Written in the Python language, it is both accessible for usage and further development, as well as efficient enough to conduct ambient seismic source inversions for realistic scenarios. Here, we introduce the concept and implementation of the tool, compare its model output to the output of cross-correlations computed with SPECFEM3D_globe, and demonstrate its capabilities on selected use cases: A comparison of observed cross-correlations of the Earth’s hum to a forward model based on hum sources from oceanographic models, and a synthetic noise source inversion using full waveforms and signal energy asymmetry.