Synthetic Seismograms from Particle Bed Interactions and Turbulent River Flow: Modeling and Comparison with Observations

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physics-based numerical model that simulates seismic signals generated by sediment transport in rivers, capturing particle dynamics, turbulence, and vortex effects, and compares the results with real seismic data.

Contribution

The model integrates grain-scale dynamics, turbulence, and vortex shedding to produce synthetic seismic signals, advancing understanding of river-induced seismic noise.

Findings

Synthetic signals match observed frequency bands during flood events.

Intermittent sediment transport produces distinct spectral signatures.

Grain-scale dynamics help differentiate sediment transport from flow noise.

Abstract

We present a physics based numerical model that estimates the seismic radiation generated by water sediment flows in gravel-bed rivers. The model reproduces the trajectories of individual particles, evaluates impact and rolling forces from grain scale dynamics, and accounts for broadband turbulence and vortex shedding in the water column. Synthetic seismic signals are propagated to the receivers using the Rayleigh wave Green s function approach and synthetic ground-velocity signals are estimated. Application to a controlled test case shows how intermittent, size selective sediment transport mechanisms produce distinct spectral signatures. Comparison with seismic data from a flood event in a mountain torrent in the Tuscan Apennines displays general agreement with the observed frequency bands and clarifies the relative width of particle collisions and turbulent flow. These results show that resolved grain scale dynamics provides a framework for discriminating sediment transport and flow induced contributions to river seismic noise.