Ratios in Higher Order Statistics (RHOS) values of Seismograms for Improved Automatic P-Phase Arrival Detection

TL;DR

This paper introduces two novel methods, utilizing higher order statistics and vector magnitude analysis, to enhance automatic detection of P-wave arrivals in seismograms, applicable to various seismic events and improving detection accuracy.

Contribution

The paper presents the RHOS technique and a vector magnitude approach, advancing P-wave detection by incorporating higher order statistics and multi-component data analysis.

Findings

RHOS improves P-wave detection accuracy.

Vector magnitude method detects P-arrivals from diverse seismic sources.

Methods outperform traditional vertical component techniques.

Abstract

In this paper we present two new procedures for automatic detection and picking of P-wave arrivals. The first involves the application of kurtosis and skewness on the vector magnitude of three component seismograms. Customarily, P-wave arrival detection techniques use vertical component seismogram which is appropriate only for teleseismic events. The inherent weakness of those methods stems from the fact that the energy from P-wave is distributed among horizontal and vertical recording channels. Our procedure, however, uses the vector magnitude which accommodates all components. The results show that this procedure would be useful for detecting/picking of P-arrivals from local and regional earthquakes and man-made explosions. The second procedure introduces a new method called "Ratios in Higher Order Statistics (RHOS)." Unlike commonly used techniques that involve derivatives, this technique employs ratios of adjacent kurtosis and skewness values to improve the accuracy of the detection of the P onset. RHOS can be applied independently on vertical component seismogram as well as the vector magnitude for improved detection of P-wave arrivals.