7.1.

2 Processing parameters
Frequency Domain
This section presents the processing parameters necessary for computing the H/V ratio. These paramaters can be modified interactively by clicking on the "Processing" tab
(Figure 1).

Figure 1: Processing parameters.
Type of smoothing function
Raw spectra contain a lot of frequency samples (e.g. for 50 s time windows and 100 Hz as sampling rate, the natural number of frequency samples is 2500 and the frequency
step is 0.02 Hz). They generally show lot of very narrow oscillations and spikes which alter their readability. Moreover, while computing the ratio H/V, the very small values
reached by raw spectra lead to unusual values of the ratio.
For this reason, before computing the H/V ratio, the Fourier spectra amplitude of the three components are smoothed. You can choose between three types of algorithm (see
table here below). Note that smoothing the Fourier spectra is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.
You can also use a cosine taper to minimise the border effects due to the windowing of the Fourier amplitude spectra. in this case check the "cosine taper" box and give the
appropriate value in percentage inside the empty box.
Different types of smoothing function
Type Description
Konno & Ohmachi
Smoothing with the "Konno-Ohmachi" function:

where,
f is the frequency,
fc is the central frequency where the smoothing is performed,
b is the bandwidth coefficient.

The bandwidth of the smoothing function is constant on a logarithmic scale. A small value of b will lead to a strong smoothing, while a
large value of b will lead to a low smoothing of the Fourier spectra

This is the recommended option. The default (and generally used) value for b is 40.
Constant The smoothing function has a triangular shape centered on the current frequency and its width is equal to "Band width"
Proportional
The smoothing function has a triangular shape and its width depends upon the current frequency. The half width is defined by
percentage*Frequency. The value of "percentage" cannot be greater or equal to 100%.
No smoothing No smoothing function is applied on the Fourier spectra. This option is not recommended.

Frequency range for the H/V computation

Figure 2: Define the output parameters for the computation of the H/V ratio.
The Output sub-section (Figure 2) helps you defining the frequency range for the computation of the H/V curve. As mentionned above the natural sampling for spectra
contain a lot of samples. For H/V output, such a precision is useless and sometimes heavy to handle. Furthermore, comparison of spectra obtained with different time window
lenghts (hence with different natural sampling) is not easy.
After computing the raw spectra with the full precision, they are output with a restricted "number of samples" ranging from the "Minimum" to "Maximum". These two limits
have to be in agreement with the minimum time window length choosen in "Windowing" tab: at least ten cycles in one time window (e.g. for a H/V between 0.2 and 20 Hz,
time window lenght should at least 50 s).
Linear or logarithmic scale controls the distribution of samples along the frequency axis. The recommended scale is logarithmic, and the number of frequency ("number of
samples").
Appearance of the H/V output

Figure 3: Upload make up files for the H/V ratio output
Here you can upload the setting files for automatic update of the window's appearance of the H/V ratio and Fourier spectra amplitude results.
Modified 2008-10-21
http://www.geopsy.org/documentation/geopsy/hv-processing.html


Geopsy: H/V and Spectrum Toolboxes: Processing Tab
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Contents
[hide]
1 Use
2 Parameters section
o 2.1 Smoothing
o 2.2 Taper
o 2.3 Filter
3 Horizontal components section (available only in the H/V toolbox)
o 3.1 Squared average
o 3.2 Total horizontal energy
o 3.3 Directional energy
4 References
Use
This toolbox tab contains the smoothing and taper parameters and the way the horizontal components are processed to compute the H/V spectral ratio, described in two
sections:
the Parameters section
the Horizontal components section (For H/V tool only)



Processing tab for smoothing parameters and horizontal components processing in H/V computing



Parameters section
This section is divided in three parts:

Smoothing


Smoothing parameters
Type of smoothing applied to the windows. During the computing of H/V or Spectrum, the Fourier spectra can be smoothed (it is strongly recommended) in the goal to
clarify the global aspect of the curves.
For the Spectrum computation, the Fourier spectrum from each selected time window is smoothed and then the averaged curve is computed.
For the H/V computation, the horizontal Fourier spectra (NS and EW) are first combined and then the smoothing is applied on the merged horizontal Fourier spectrum and on
the vertical Fourier spectrum.

Four smoothing methods are evailable:


Smoothing option drop box
1. Konno and Ohmachi
[1]
smoothing. This smoothing use a constant bandwidth in a logarithmic scale and is strongly recommended
because this smoothing function preserves the different number of points at low and high frequency. This smoothing is
controlled by a smoothing constant varying in-between 0 and 100. A constant of 0 gives a very strong smoothing, when a
constant of 100 a very soft smoothing, more details;
2. Constant smoothing. This smoothing function has a triangular shape centered on the current frequency and its width is equal to
"Band width" given by the user. This band width varies from 0 (soft smoothing) to 100 (strong smoothing);
3. Proportional smoothing. This smoothing function has a triangular shape and its width depends upon the current frequency. The
half width is defined by percentage*frequency. The value of "percentage" cannot be greater or equal to 100% (strong smoothing).
4. No smoothing. This can be sometime useful to have a rough idea about Fourier spectra;
The Smoothing constant spin box is used to give the smoothing constant value.
Taper


Taper box and spin box
Check the box to apply a cosine taper on both sides of the selected time windows.
A taper is used to minimize the border effects due to the extraction of a window so as to improve its properties in the frequency domain. The use of a taper is strongly
recommended so as to avoid the creation of spurious frequencies.
The taper width is adjusted in the spin box.
Filter


High-pass check-box and spin box
When the box is checked a high-pass filter is applied along the entire record of each component before selecting the stable time
windows. This procedure is used to avoid spurious frequencies due to the effect of a strong low frequency content.
Checking this option is recommended when the signal has a strong low frequency content with respect to the frequency of interest, e.g. shallow site next to a shore line, or
recording under windy condition. In such case, cutting the signal into short time windows may strongly distort the spectrum, and even using the minimum window length
criteria according to the SESAME guidelines
[2]
(i.e. 10 times the corresponding period for the minimum frequency of interest) may not be enough to ensure a reliable H/V
estimation.
This option should be used with caution. As the signal is high-pass filtered, the results below the chosen cut-off frequency could be somewhat flaky, and the cut-off frequency
must be much lower than the frequency of interest.

Horizontal components section (available only in the H/V toolbox)


Horizontal components section for choosing how to combine the signal N-S and E-W components into a single H component)
The H spectrum of the H/V spectral ratio is obtained by combining the N-S and E-W components of the signal.
Three different combinations are available:
Squared average
Total horizontal energy
Directional energy


Squared average
In each window, the horizontal spectrum is computed by a combination of the N-S and E-W components using the formula


Total horizontal energy
In each window, the horizontal spectrum is computed by a combination of the N-S and E-W components using the formula


Directional energy
H/V is calculated along a given direction (0 is the North direction and 90 the East direction). The N-S and E-W signals are projected onto the chosen direction.
H/V is computed in the direction entered in the spin box.

References
1. Konno K. and T. Ohmachi, 1998. Ground motion characteristics estimated from spectral ratio between horizontal and vertical
components of microtremors. Bull. seism. Soc. Am., 88-1, 228-241.
2. Guidelines for the implementation of the H/V spectral ratio technique on ambient vibrations measurements, processing and
interpretation, [1], 62 pages, April 2005
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