Site characterization using Gauss–Newton inversion of 2-D full seismic waveform in the time domain

Site characterization for design of deep foundations is very crucial, as unanticipated site conditions still represent significant problems and disputes occur during construction. Traditional surface-based geophysical methods, which use wave velocity dispersion or first-arrival times, have been widely used recently to assess spatial variation; however they cannot well characterize reverse profiles or buried low-velocity zones. For better characterization of these challenging site conditions, a full waveform inversion based on Gauss–Newton method is presented. The inversion scheme is based on a finite-difference solution of the 2-D elastic wave equation in the time domain. The strength of this approach is the ability to generate all possible wave types of seismic wavefields that are then compared with observed data to infer complex subsurface properties. Virtual sources and reciprocity of wavefields are used for calculation of partial derivative wavefields to reduce computer time. Cross convolution between observed and estimated wavefields are also employed to allow the technique to be independent of the source signatures. The capability of the presented technique is tested with both synthetic and real experimental data sets. The inversion results from synthetic data show the ability of characterizing anomalies of low- and high-velocity zones, and the inversion results from real data are generally consistent with SPT N-value, including the identification of a buried low-velocity layer.