A synthetic study of acoustic full waveform inversion to improve seismic modelling of firn

The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Glaciology
Main Authors: Emma Pearce, Adam D. Booth, Sebastian Rost, Paul Sava, Tuğrul Konuk, Alex Brisbourne, Bryn Hubbard, Ian Jones
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2022
Subjects:
glacier geophysics
glacier modelling
polar firn
seismics
seismology
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
Annals of Glaciology
Ice Shelf
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2023.10
https://doaj.org/article/564695c1917f4dfb9c48547917a488d8
Description
Summary:The density structure of firn has implications for hydrological and climate modelling and for ice shelf stability. The firn structure can be evaluated from depth models of seismic velocity, widely obtained with Herglotz-Wiechert inversion (HWI), an approach that considers the slowness of refracted seismic arrivals. However, HWI is appropriate only for steady-state firn profiles and the inversion accuracy can be compromised where firn contains ice layers. In these cases, Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) can be more successful than HWI. FWI extends HWI capabilities by considering the full seismic waveform and incorporates reflected arrivals, thus offering a more accurate estimate of a velocity profile. We show the FWI characterisation of the velocity model has an error of only 1.7% for regions (vs. 4.2% with HWI) with an ice slab (20 m thick, 40 m deep) in an otherwise steady-state firn profile.

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