Locating clustered seismicity using Distance Geometry Solvers: applications for sparse and single-borehole DAS networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces HADES-R, an improved seismic event location method that uses distance geometry and minimal station data to accurately locate clusters, especially in sparse or single-borehole seismic networks.

Contribution

HADES-R extends the original HADES approach by solving a least-squares problem with only one master event, enabling cluster location with minimal station data and improving applicability in challenging environments.

Findings

Successfully benchmarked on Ridgecrest sequence data.

Effectively located seismic clusters at FORGE geothermal site.

Demonstrated potential for microseismic monitoring with limited instrumentation.

Abstract

The determination of seismic event locations with sparse networks or single-borehole systems remains a significant challenge in observational seismology. Leveraging the advantages of the location approach HADES, which was initially developed for locating clustered seismicity recorded at two stations, we present here an improved version of the methodology: HADES-R. Where HADES previously needed a minimum of 4 absolutely located master events, HADES-R solves a least-squares problem to find the relative inter-event distances in the cluster, and uses only a single master event to find the locations of all events, and subsequently applies rotational optimiser to find the cluster orientation. It can leverage iterative station combinations if multiple receivers are available, to describe the cluster shape and orientation uncertainty with a bootstrap approach. The improved method requires P- and S-phase arrival picks, a homogeneous velocity model, a single master event with a known location, and an estimate of the cluster width. The approach is benchmarked on the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence recorded at two stations, and applied to two seismic clusters at the FORGE geothermal test site, including a microseismic monitoring scenario with a DAS in a vertical borehole. Traditional procedures struggle in these settings due to the ill-posed network configuration. The azimuthal ambiguity in this scenario is partially overcome by assuming that all events belong to the same cluster around the master event and a cluster width estimate. We find the cluster shape in both cases, although the orientation remains uncertain. The method's ability to constrain the cluster shape and location with only one well-located event offers promising implications, especially for environments where limited or specialised instrumentation is in use.