The Waveform Browser, an Interactive and Intuitive Tool for Exploring Seismic Event Data

摘要

Seismic waveforms carry much information about the source that generated them and the material properties of the media through which they propagated. Systematic changes in waveform character offer clues that can help us understand earthquake rupture processes as well as heterogeneous velocity structure. To find these systematic changes, record sections are often constructed. However, the character of the waveforms normally changes as a function of many variables, including epicentral distance, azimuth, exit point on the focal sphere, and recording station site effects, among others, all acting simultaneously. It is therefore useful to view the waveforms in their geographic/geologic context. Recognizing this, many recent publications dealing with waveform character plot waveforms distributed over a map in the location of the station that recorded them (examples are abundant; a recent one that uses this type of figure extensively is Sun and Helmberger, 2011). This is a very useful representation, but it becomes problematic if station spacing is small, when it becomes difficult to separate the waveform plots. In addition, by necessity, the plotted waveforms must be small, because they must all fit inside the map. This makes it difficult to assess details and more subtle effects when trying to analyze the data.