Scattered-surface wave imaging: from the lab to the field

Scattered surface waves provide information about localized heterogeneity in the shallow subsurface. Several methods have been developed and are under development to characterize and locate shallow heterogeneity, like voids, tunnels or mine shafts. In this study we use an efficient inverse scattering approach based on an integral representation of the scattered wave field. At the hand of examples of this method applied to synthetic data, ultrasonic laboratory data and field data, we discuss advantages and limitations of our method. With an eye on possible applications in passive seismology and the increased use of non-uniform arrays in geotechnical engineering, we show that the method is not very sensitive to non-uniform acquisition geometries.