Acoustic-seismic coupling for a wide range of angles of incidence and frequencies using signals of jet-aircraft overflights

• Published in: Journal of sound and vibration Vol. 385; pp. 202 - 218
• Main Authors: Liebsch, Mattes, Altmann, Jürgen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 22.12.2016; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Acoustic coupling; Acoustic excitation; Acoustics; Aviation; Broadband; Coupling coefficients; Frequencies; Incidence angle; P waves; Pressure dependence; Reflectance; Reflection; Seismic engineering; Seismic response; Seismic waves; Soils; Sound pressure; Studies; Vibration analysis
• ISSN: 0022-460X; 1095-8568
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jsv.2016.09.007

We present the excitation of soil vibration at the surface and at depths to 0.6m caused by the sound of jet-aircraft overflights. By evaluating a multitude of overflight events we show that the coupling coefficient between soil velocity and sound pressure is only dependent on the angle of incidence of the acoustic wave and the frequency and thus can be averaged over the events. While previous publications presented only pointwise measurements we present signals for a wide range of angles of incidence and frequencies. In the seismic signal we found frequency bands of increased and decreased soil velocity caused by interference of the directly excited seismic wave with waves propagating in the ground and reflected at an underground boundary and at the surface. We use this seismic response to the broadband acoustic excitation to estimate soil characteristics e.g. P-wave velocity and depth of the boundary. The behaviour at depths >0m can be explained by an additional reflection at the surface. Here the reflection coefficient from theory was used successfully. The reflection coefficient of the P wave at that boundary – where insufficient information is available for its derivation from theory – was estimated from amplitude ratios at the surface.