Shear‐wave profiling via SH reflection analysis and rayleigh wave inversion

We analyse and compare the shear-wave velocity distribution obtained from multi-fold SH reflection data and from Rayleigh wave dispersion curve inversion. The analysis focuses on two seismic datasets from a waste disposal site. We use an optimisation scheme based on a Genetic Algorithm and on the evaluation of the Marginal Posterior Probability Density to invert the dispersion curves and handle the strong multi-modality of the inversion problem. The number of reflectors in the inversion process is constrained by the SH-wave reflection survey to allow better comparison of the results. The final velocity models, separately obtained by the two techniques, are in excellent agreement and are validated by the available borehole data. The results of the study demonstrate the benefits of joint shear and Rayleigh wave surveys with particular reference to media characterized by strong attenuation.